MSH: Photography, Surveillance and Discipline: Policing Crime and Prostitution in 19th Century Paris and Christiania

The project "Photography, Surveillance and Discipline" concerns the use of photography in law enforcement in the 19th century, more precisely, the use the police made of the photographic portrait in order to identify and register criminals, prostitutes an d other categories of people not prone to social conformity. In other words, the project is about photography as a tool of social control, focusing on the examples of 19th century Paris and Christiania (Oslo). Special attention will be paid to the categor izing and determining capacities of photography, that is, to the way photography partakes in the constitution of social norms, identity and stereotypes.