Thursday, September 8, 2016

Women Anarchists of 1894

Alphonse Bertillon
Anarchist Victorine Trucano
1894
albumen silver print
Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Paris police clerk Alphonse Bertillon gave his name to a phenomenon known as Bertillonage. Curators at the Metropolitan Museum of Art explain its nature and purpose 

"The system had three components: anthropometric measurement, precise verbal description of the prisoner's physical characteristics, and standardized photographs of the face. In the early 1890s Paris was subject to a wave of bombings and assassination attempts carried out by anarchist proponents of "propaganda of the deed." One of Bertillon's greatest successes came in March 1892 when his system of criminal identification led to the arrest of an anarchist bomber and career criminal who went by the name Ravachol. The publicity surrounding the case earned Bertillon the Legion of Honor and encouraged police departments around the world to adopt his anthropometric system." 

Hundred of Bertillon's police photos now repose in New York at the Met. One reflection they prompt is that the subjects almost certainly never saw them.

Alphonse Bertililon
Anarchist Annette Soubrier
1894
albumen silver print
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Alphonse Bertillon
Anarchist Péronne Pallaz
1894
albumen silver print
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Alphonse Bertillon
Anarchist Antoinette Cazal
1894
albumen silver print
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Alphonse Bertillon
Anarchist Minna Schrader
1894
albumen silver print
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Alphonse Bertillon
Anarchist Caroline Herman
1894
albumen silver print
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Alphonse Bertillon
Anarchist Marie Zanini
1894
albumen silver print
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Alphonse Bertillon
Anarchist Clotilde Adnet
1894
albumen silver print
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Alphonse Bertillon
Anarchist Marie Bertout
1894
albumen silver
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Alphonse Bertillon
Anarchist Eva Chiroki
1894
albumen silver print
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Alphonse Bertillon
Anarchist Louise Pioget
1894
albumen silver print
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Alphonse Bertillon
Anarchist Jeanne Malpet
1894
albumen silver print
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Alphonse Bertillon
Anarchist Léontine Borreman
1894
albumen silver print
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Alphonse Bertillon
Anarchist Jeanne Marie Adnet
1894
albumen silver print
Metropolitan Museum of Art