Bureaucracy exists almost everywhere, but step inside the offices where it actually happens, and the similarities quickly give way to striking differences. Desks, filing cabinets, portraits of political leaders, religious symbols, certificates, family photographs, and stacks of paperwork can reveal almost as much about a country as the officials sitting among them. Photographer Jan Banning explored exactly that idea with “Bureaucratics,” a long-running project documenting civil servants and government officials in their everyday workplaces around the world. Rather than focusing on politicians or imposing government buildings, Banning photographed the unelected officials who put laws and policies into practice, from administrators to police officers, and the environments where they do that work.
The project first appeared as the photobook “Bureaucratics,” edited by British photographer Martin Parr and published by Nazraeli Press in 2008. It featured 50 photographs taken between 2003 and 2007 in eight countries across five continents, selected to represent different political, historical, and cultural circumstances. The book went through four print runs, all of which eventually sold out. Nearly two decades later, Banning has returned to the work with Bureaucratics Revisited. The expanded 2026 edition extends the project to 12 countries and includes previously unpublished photographs, images from his earlier The Office series in Mozambique, and a new essay reflecting on the project from the present. Keep that in mind as you view the photographs below. The job titles, positions, salaries, and other details in the individual captions refer to when each photograph was taken and should not be taken as current information.
Scroll down to explore Banning’s portraits and take a close look at the spaces surrounding their subjects. Sometimes the most revealing part of an office is not the person behind the desk, but what has accumulated on the walls, shelves, and filing cabinets around them - or the absence thereof.
#1 Sushma Prasad, Assistant Clerk - India, 2003
“Sushma Prasad (b. 1962) is an assistant clerk in the Cabinet Secretary’s office of the State of Bihar (population 83 million) at The Old Secretariat in the state capital, Patna. She was hired “on compassionate grounds” after her husband, who worked in the same department until 1997, passed away. Her monthly salary is 5,000 rupees (about US$110 or €100).”
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14points
The project also examines something more complicated than simply what government offices look like. Sociologist Max Weber famously described bureaucracy as a rational system built around hierarchy, formal rules, and impartial treatment - one necessary for the organization of large-scale human activity. In theory, that impersonality helps ensure that citizens are treated equally. In practice, however, the same reliance on procedures and protocols can also make bureaucracy feel rigid, distant, and poorly suited to individual circumstances, while allowing individual official's choices and biases to significantly disrupt the system in both positive and negative ways.
#2 Major Adolph Dalaney, Traffic Police Officer - Liberia, 2006
“Major Adolph Dalaney (b. 1940) works in the Reconstruction Room of the Traffic Police at the Liberia National Police Headquarters in Monrovia. His monthly salary is barely 1,000 Liberian dollars (about US$18 or €17). Traffic accident victims sometimes pay extra if Dalaney’s department quickly prepares a favorable report for a judge.”
This office is full of unexpected details. A bicycle is parked right beside the desk, while the blackboard behind the officer still carries a lesson dated January 25, 2006, including a Bible verse and what appears to be a hand-drawn road or traffic diagram. There’s even a microscope on the desk. The whole room feels like a curious mix of police station, classroom, and workshop, a great example of how these photographs reveal much more than just the person behind the desk.
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12points
#3 W. R. Flores, Texas Ranger - United States Of America
“Rudy Flores (b. 1963) is one of 118 Texas Rangers - state law enforcement officers - who cover 254 counties between them. He is based in Palestine, Anderson County, Texas, and is responsible for three counties. His monthly salary is US$5,000 (€3,720).”
His office almost looks like a small Texas museum. Cowboy hats, a lasso, longhorn horns, framed Western imagery and a large metal silhouette of Texas surround his desk, while Flores himself wears the Rangers’ unmistakable cowboy hat. The contrast between all that Wild West symbolism and the everyday clutter of a government office is makes this portrait especially memorable.
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12points
Banning’s photographs make that tension visible in remarkably human ways. A government office is, in one sense, a place where the state presents itself to its citizens, with flags, official portraits, documents, certificates, and other symbols reinforcing its authority. But it is also a space where someone spends much of their life. Personal belongings, decorations, improvised storage, furniture, and countless small details gradually turn these formal workplaces into something much more individual.
#4 John Ndalira, Constable - Uganda, 2010
“Constable # 11431, John Ndalira works at the Kakira Police Station in Jinja. He earns 205,000 shilling (euro 54, US$ 72) a month.”
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12points
#5 Nadja Ali Gayt, Ministry Of Agriculture Advisor - Yemen, 2006
“Nadja Ali Gayt (b. 1969) is an adviser at the Ministry of Agriculture’s education center for rural women in the district of Manakhah, Sana’a Governorate. Her monthly salary is 28,500 rial (about US$160 or €110).”
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11points
That contrast makes the photographs especially fascinating. One official may sit surrounded by towering piles of aging documents, while another works in an almost bare room. Some spaces immediately communicate authority, while others could easily be mistaken for classrooms, living rooms, or small neighborhood businesses. Together, the portraits transform something as familiar, and often frustrating, as bureaucracy into a study of culture, hierarchy, personality, and everyday working life.
#6 Yao Hong Yu, Vice Director Of Publicity Office - China, 2007
“Yao Hong Yu is the vice director of the publicity office in Tianping (about 1 million inhabitants) in Daiyue District, Tai’an City. She is responsible for promoting the policies and initiatives of the local government, as well as managing public information and media relations.”
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10points
#7 Constantino Aya Viri Castro, Police Officer - Bolivia, 2005
“Constantino Aya Viri Castro (b. 1950), formerly a construction worker, is a third-class police officer in the municipality of Tinguipaya, Tomás Frías Province. The police station has no phone, car, or typewriter. His monthly salary is 800 bolivianos (about US$100 or €89).”
Fun fact: The portraits hanging above the desk are of Simón Bolívar and Antonio José de Sucre, two of the most important figures in South America’s independence. Bolivia itself was named after Bolívar, making their presence in a government office especially symbolic.
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9points
#8 Sergej Michailovich Osipchuk, Police Officer - Russia, 2004
“Sergej Michailovich Osipchuk (b. 1974) is the lone police officer in the village of Oktyabrsky, Tomsk province. He has no police car, no private vehicle, and not even a bicycle. He does not wish to disclose his salary, but informed sources estimate the monthly salary of an officer of his rank and age at approximately 4,000 rubles (about US$143 or €108).”
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9points
#9 Roger Vacher, Narcotics Officer - France, 2006
“Roger Vacher (b. 1957) is a narcotics agent with the national police force in Clermont-Ferrand, Puy-de-Dôme department, Auvergne region. His monthly salary is €2,200 (about US$2,893).”
His office provides an unexpectedly playful contrast to his profession: the walls and shelves are filled with cannabis imagery, smoking paraphernalia, and references to Bob Marley, including a “Bart Marley” poster combining Bart Simpson with the reggae icon.
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8points
#10 Wang Ning, Economic Advisor - China, 2007
“Wang Ning (b. 1983) is advisor at the Office of Economic Affairs of Gu Lou, a neighborhood in the city of Yanzhou, Jining prefecture, Shandong province. Monthly salary: 2,100 renminbi (US$307 or €228).”
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8points
#11 Luis Ruiz Luna, Police Officer - Colombia, 2011
“Patrolman Luis Ruiz Luna in his rural Police Substation in Retiro Nuevo.”
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8points
#12 Rodolfo Villca Flores, Municipal Supervisor - Bolivia, 2005
“Rodolfo Villca Flores (b. 1958) is the chief supervisor of market and sanitary services for the municipality of Betanzos, Cornelio Saavedra Province. He previously worked as a bricklayer, electrician, plumber, and handyman. His monthly salary is 1,150 bolivianos (about US$143 or €128).”
Fun fact: Much like the office of officer Castro elsewhere in this post, Flores' office prominently displays portraits of Simón Bolívar and Antonio José de Sucre, with Bolivia’s coat of arms between them. Bolívar gave the country its name, while Sucre became Bolivia’s first constitutional president, so the décor connects this modest local office directly to the nation’s founding history.
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7points
#13 Carlos Roska, Administrative Secretary - Mozambique, 2002
“Carlos Roska is secretário do posto administrativo (Administrative Secretary) of Boila-Nametoria, with 3,857 inhabitants (2001), in Nampula Province.”
This photograph belongs to Banning’s early work in Mozambique and, unlike the colorful office portraits that later became characteristic of Bureaucratics, it was shot in black and white. Despite Roska’s official position, his remarkably sparse office contains little more than a desk, two chairs and a wooden cabinet, another example of how dramatically the working environments of civil servants can differ around the world.
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6points
#14 Brigadiere Capo Qualifica Speciale Cinzia Aliciani, Carabinieri Personnel Officer - Italy, 2024
“Cinzia Aliciani (51) is a personnel officer in the Carabinieri Biodiversity Department in Tarvisio. She earns €1,500 per month.
The Reparto Carabinieri Biodiversità Tarvisio is a unit of the Italian Carabinieri focused on the protection and management of biodiversity in the Tarvisio region. Additionally, the Carabinieri engage in scientific research and education. They play a crucial role in preserving the rich biodiversity of the Alps.”
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6points
#15 Don Albino D’orlando, Military Chaplain - Italy, 2024
“Don Albino d’Orlando (60) is the military chaplain of the Carabinieri in the Friuli region. He performs all the duties of a regular priest: leading mass, supporting people in difficult times, and administering sacraments to the dying. He declined to disclose his salary, saying, “That’s private.” It is estimated to be around €1,700 per month.”
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5points