Baptiste Descamps, a copper molder elected to the Council of the Paris Commune on March 26, 1871, stands as the subject of this albumen carte-de-visite, made by the Paris studio Saint-Edme at its Esplanade des Invalides address, placing the portrait in the years surrounding the Commune itself. Descamps faces the camera in a full-length standing pose, one hand resting on a dark octagonal pedestal supporting a closed book, the other arm hanging at his side and holding what appears to be a rolled document or pair of gloves. He wears a dark frock coat left open over a waistcoat, a white shirt with a bow tie, and a sash or decorative ribbon across his chest, with voluminous side-swept hair and a full mustache completing a commanding if composed appearance. A fringed upholstered side chair with carved legs is visible in the background at right.

Descamps was elected on March 26, 1871, to the Council of the Commune by the 14th arrondissement with 5,835 votes out of 6,570 cast. Accused of usurpation of office, he appeared before the 3rd Council of War, which unanimously acquitted him on September 2, 1871, finding he had done some good in the district he administered, making him the only non-resigning member of the Paris Commune to be acquitted by the military judges. Saint-Edme began activity in 1861 and operated at successive Paris addresses including the Esplanade des Invalides, later moving to 11 Boulevard des Italiens around 1870.

Inscribed in pencil on the reverse: "Descamps / membre Commune" (Descamps / member of the Commune). The reverse bears the printed studio imprint of Saint-Edme, Esplanade des Invalides, 50 Rue Fabert, Paris, with a decorative monogram and the legend "Photographie des Enfants de France."