Much of Lucien Clergue's work revolves around themes of loss, death, and decay, primarily made in and around his native Arles and the surrounding Camargue region. He took these photographs between 1955 and 1962 at several bullfighting arenas in the South of France: Nîmes, Arles, Lumel, Beaucaire, Méjanes, Châteauurenard, Marseille, and Le Gran du Roi.

'The book's design, bold and cinematic, is also extremely effective in both heightening the drama and maintaining a dynamic flow to the action. By repeating a series of close-ups, and showing us very little of the stadium, the crowd, or other players in the drama, Clergue keeps our attention on the bull's plight, imparting a strong psychological sense to the drama' (The Photobook).

First edition, signed on the slipcase and again on the title-page; (263 x 267 mm, 10¼ x 10½ in); black-and-white photographs, texts by Jean Cocteau and Jean-Marie Landau; photo-illustrated endpapers, black-and-white photo-illustrated paper-covered boards, text in red, white cloth spine lettered in red, a couple of signatures pulling at gutter but holding firm, spine toned, light wear to boards and extremities, publisher's photo-illustrated paper-covered board slipcase, white cloth edges, light wear, light soiling to edges, very good in a near-fine slipcase; [48]pp.

The Photobook: A History I, p219.