Thirion. Louis, Joseph. 31 ans, né à Autrey (Vosges). Journaliste. Anarchiste. 4/3/94.
Medium
Albumen silver print from glass negative
Dimensions
10.5 x 7 x 0.5 cm (4 1/8 x 2 3/4 x 3/16 in.) each
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gilman Collection, Museum Purchase, 2005
Accession Number
2005.100.375.409
Tags
Art Historical Context
In 1894, pioneering forensic photographer Alphonse Bertillon this intimate yet clinical portrait of Louis Joseph Thir, a 31-year-old journalist and self-identified anarchist born in Autrey, Vosges. Titled with meticulous detail—age, origin, profession, and the exact date, March 4—the image is part of Bertillon's groundbreaking system of criminal identification, known as *bertillonage*. As chief of the Paris Prefecture of Police's Identification Service, Bertillon standardized mugshots with front and profile views, revolutionizing law enforcement during a turbulent era of social unrest in Franc...
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 ...