Moroccan: Mohamed bou Zian, age 24, born in Beni-Snasser of Moroccan Arab father and mother (dorsal),

ca. 1881

This image belongs to a series of photographs commissioned in the nineteenth century by the Société d’Ethnographie of Paris, an association of French ethnographers who advocated for race-based social hierarchies. Attempting to exploit photography’s evidentiary qualities to bolster the group’s cause, the ethnologist Léon de Rosny presented Mohamed bou Zian during one of the society’s meetings and had him photographed completely naked against a plain white background. The presentation of Mohamed in rear view, together with labeling him by his and his parents’ nationality, dehumanizes him as a specimen for “scientific” study.