Pourry. François, Nicolas. 58 ans, né à Ars-sur-Moselle (Alsace-Lorraine). Ajusteur. Anarchiste. 3/7/94.

Art Historical Context

This albumen silver print presents a direct, frontal portrait of a middle-aged man identified as François Pourry. He gazes steadily at the camera, his features sharply lit against a plain studio backdrop. The subject wears a dark corduroy jacket over a light shirt, his hair receding and his mustache neatly trimmed. Handwritten inscriptions appear on the mount and across the lower portion of the image, recording his name and a numerical reference. Alphonse Bertillon created this photograph in 1894 as part of his pioneering system of criminal identification at the Paris police prefecture. Bertillon combined standardized photographic portraits with precise measurements to create reliable records for law enforcement. The work belongs to a series documenting individuals arrested for anarchist activities, illustrating both the technical development of the mugshot and the social tensions of late-nineteenth-century France. Today it offers viewers a glimpse into the early history of forensic photography and the ways images were used to classify and remember people.

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 ...