Identity photographs used for official employee passbooks at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition provide a way to restore visibility to some of the massive workforce of employees and officials who are otherwise missing in conventional representations of this event. As a tool for documentation, a method for the mass production of images and a vehicle for constructing individual identity, identity photography had multiple functions at the Exposition. The professional photographic studio of James and May Gibson, working on site, demonstrates the kind of business acumen that was a requirement for the successful mass production of identity photographs. Workers were the key to successful Exposition businesses, and the food workers and employees of the Wellington Catering Company, the leading food concession, were crucial to the company’s huge financial success. Removed from their original passbooks, 273 photographs of the company’s employees illustrate that for many workers this form of photography was more than just an image of identification, but also an opportunity for a statement of personal identity.

中文翻译：

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失踪人员：1893 年芝加哥世界哥伦比亚博览会上的身份摄影和工人

在 1893 年世界哥伦比亚博览会上用于官方员工存折的身份照片提供了一种方法，可以让一些员工和官员的大量劳动力恢复可见性，否则这些员工和官员在此事件的传统表示中是缺失的。作为记录的工具、大规模生产图像的方法和构建个人身份的工具，身份摄影在博览会上具有多种功能。James 和 May Gibson 的专业摄影工作室在现场工作，展示了成功批量制作身份照片所需的商业敏锐度。工人是世博会成功的关键，而领先的食品特许经营商惠灵顿餐饮公司的食品工人和员工，对公司的巨大财务成功至关重要。从原始存折中取出的 273 幅公司员工照片表明，对于许多员工来说，这种形式的照片不仅仅是身份识别图像，也是表明个人身份的机会。