Moucheraud. Pierre, Yves. 27 ans, né à Paris IVe. Imprimeur. Anarchiste. 4/3/94.

Art Historical Context

This poignant 1894 albumen silver print by Alphonse Bertillon captures Pierre Yves Mouchera, a 27-year-old printer and self-identified anarchist born in Paris's 4th arrondissement. Titled with meticulous detail—"Moucheraud., Yves. 27 ans, né à Paris IV. Imprimeur. Anarchiste. 4/3/94."—it exemplifies Bertillon's pioneering forensic photography, created as part of his bertillonage system for criminal identification. Amid France's turbulent fin-de-siècle era, marked by anarchist bombings and social unrest, such images documented suspects with clinical precision, blending science and surveillance. Bertillon, chief of the Paris Prefecture's Identification Service, revolutionized policing by standardizing mugshots with profile and frontal views, precise measurements, and notations. Though utilitarian, his small-scale prints (just 10.5 x 7 cm) reveal artistic mastery: even lighting accentuates facial features, while the glass negative ensures sharp detail characteristic of albumen silver processes, popular in the 19th century for their rich tones and archival quality. Today, housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Gilman Collection, this portrait transcends its origins, offering a window into an era of radical politics and photographic innovation. It invites reflection on how images once used to criminalize now humanize their subjects, bridging art, history, and justice.

About the Artist

Alphonse Bertillon · 1853–1914

Alphonse Bertillon (1853–1914) was a pioneering French photographer whose work revolutionized forensic documentation, transforming police identification into a precise visual science. Born in Paris on April 22, 1853, he was the son of medical professor and statistician Louis-Adolphe Bertillon and the younger brother of demographer Jacques Bertillon. Lacking formal higher education after expulsion ...