Margerand. Claude. 32 ans, né le 24/3/61 à Beaujeu (Rhône). Cordonnier. Anarchiste. 3/7/94. 1894

This is an albumen print made by Alphonse Bertillon in 1894, a type of photograph popular in the 19th century. The albumen process involves coating paper with egg white, then a silver nitrate solution, creating a light-sensitive surface. Bertillon was a French police officer and biometrics researcher, and this image is part of his mugshot archive. The seemingly simple albumen print has a very real social significance: it’s about the rise of scientific methods for social control. Consider that shoemaking, Margerand's profession, was then a trade resisting industrialization; his anarchism, a resistance to centralized power. Bertillon's photographic method was intended to classify and control individuals like him, an effort to formalize control of labor through a new level of state power. So, next time you encounter a photograph, remember that even the most straightforward image can have complex ties to labor, politics, and consumption.