Paper short abstract:

Using an archive from Mbouda, Cameroon I will explore ways in which citizens inscribed themselves in the state through identity cards and other administrative documentation which all require id style photos.

Paper long abstract:

Using an archive from Mbouda, Cameroon I will explore ways in which citizens inscribed themselves in the state through identity cards and other administrative documentation which all require id style photos. Marriage certificates are an interesting case in point since there are some examples in the archive of literal cut and paste construction of marriage certificate style imagery, although there is no evidence of these were accepted. Further instances of how ID photographs were re-used complicate the story and show the agency of the clients as they took control of the images originally commissioned for the state.