Monday, November 25, 2013

Show Me Your Papers, The Big Book of National Identity Cards



It wasn't really a book.  Back when I worked in photo labs, we had what we called The Big Book of National Identity Cards.  What it really was, was a collection of xerox sheets and computer print outs with specifications for various government IDs.  In a nut shell, if someone was visiting L.A. from Burkina Faso, and they lost their identity card, we could look it up and make them new photos.  After that, they were on their own, of course, and I always had a bad feeling that some of those lost papers was a solid basis for an asylum request.  After all, who wants to cross a Stan or two?

1 comment:

  1. Funny how the lighting makes the first look like a mugshot and the second a snapshot.

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