Jules-Paul Johannard, born in Beaune on 22 January 1843 and a prominent figure of the Paris Commune, is portrayed in this albumen carte-de-visite produced by the celebrated Parisian studio of Étienne Carjat, French journalist, caricaturist, and photographer. Carjat operated at 10 rue Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, Paris, from 1869 through 1884, placing this portrait squarely within that period, consistent with Johannard's prominence during and after the Commune of 1871.

Johannard appears in a three-quarter bust view against a plain light ground, wearing a dark three-piece suit with a wide, loosely knotted silk bow tie and a visible lapel pin or boutonnière. His dark, wavy hair is swept back, and he wears a trim mustache and small chin tuft; his gaze turns slightly away from the lens with a composed, assured expression.

Johannard was a member of the General Council of the First International and corresponding secretary for Italy in 1868 to 1869. After the defeat of the Commune, he escaped to London, where a war council condemned him to death in absentia on 7 March 1873. Carjat was best known for his numerous portraits of political, literary, and artistic Parisian figures, making this likeness of one of the Commune's most hunted leaders a document of considerable historical weight.

The reverse bears the printed orange imprint of "Etienne Carjat & Cie, 10 rue Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, au rez-de-chaussée" (at street level), with medallion awards noted for London 1861, Paris 1863–1864, Berlin 1865, and the Exposition Universelle 1867, and the studio founding date of 1867. Inscribed in ink at the top of the reverse: "Johannard / Jules Paul Johannard / Fr. Communard" (Johannard / Jules Paul Johannard / French Communard). A purple oval collector's or dealer's stamp reads "J. H. Lang, Bale (Suisse), Succ. de Rod. Lang" (J. H. Lang, Basel, Switzerland, successor to Rod. Lang). Notations in pencil at the bottom read "7/22/11," "BLOGG Z," and "Eb." The subject's surname "Cholain" is inscribed in ink script on the front lower mount, likely a former misattribution or filing notation.