Keywords: Album of Paris Crime Scenes - Attributed to Alphonse Bertillon. DP263809.jpg Alphonse Bertillon the chief of criminal identification for the Paris police department developed the mug shot format and other photographic procedures used by police to register criminals Although the images in this extraordinary album of forensic photographs were made by or under the direction of Bertillon it was probably assembled by a private investigator or secretary who worked at the Paris prefecture Photographs of the pale bodies of murder victims are assembled with views of the rooms where the murders took place close-ups of objects that served as clues and mug shots of criminals and suspects Made as part of an archive rather than as art these postmortem portraits recorded in the deadpan style of a police report nonetheless retain an unsettling potency 1901 “8 Gelatin silver prints Overall 24 3 x 31cm 9 9/16 x 12 3/16in Page 23 x 29 cm 9 1/16 x 11 7/16 in Institution Metropolitan Museum of Art object history Christie's South Kensington May 11 2001 Lot 254 ; Hans P Kraus Jr Inc New York exhibition history 284718 credit line Gilman Collection Purchase The Howard Gilman Foundation Gift 2001 accession number 2001 483 1 “ 172 PD-100 Album of Paris Crime Scenes - Attributed to Alphonse Bertillon Images of Paris from the Metropolitan Museum of Art |