Authenticating our singularity as human beings seems to be the main purpose of identity photography today. To “show ID” is to provide evidence of who we are through what makes us unique. But did the photo ID always serve to distinguish one person from another? Or, one person—from all others?
The history of identity photography suggests otherwise. Throughout its history, more than one individual often appeared on ID photographs, such as here. In this particular case, the request made by one individual, Rachid [ben] Ali (born c. 1896 in Algeria), to return to their home country after over a decade of service in the French military. Pasted into a 1930s ledger for issuing diplomatic visas, passports and laissez-passers issued by the French mandate in Beirut, Lebanon, Rachid [ben] Ali’s fate was apparently assessed on the basis of his two family members’ photographs, as well as his own. Archives of the French consulate in Beirut.
