Bouchez. Louis. 19 ans, né le 29/8/75 à Paris XXe. Sculpteur. Anarchiste. 6/1/94. 1894

This mugshot of Louis Bouchez, a 19-year-old sculptor and anarchist, was taken by Alphonse Bertillon in Paris on January 6, 1894. Bertillon, a French police officer and biometrics researcher, developed a system of identifying individuals through body measurements. This image, part of that system, encapsulates the late 19th-century anxieties about crime and social order. Bouchez's face, framed by the stark formality of the photograph, hints at the complex relationship between identity, class, and political rebellion. The details provided – sculptor, anarchist – offer a glimpse into the historical context of a young man who was perhaps challenging the established norms of his time. Anarchism, a political philosophy advocating self-governed societies, often attracted individuals from marginalized backgrounds. Here, photography becomes a tool of surveillance, attempting to fix and categorize an individual who, as an anarchist, likely resisted such classification. The photograph serves as a reminder of the power structures inherent in systems of identification, and the human stories they often conceal.