BR. MARCUS ART PHOTOGRAPHY

“People living deeply have no fear of death.” -Anais Nin

Inspired by Picasso’s  Lancing The Bull  and bullfights during the Festival of San Fermin in Pamplona, I wanted to capture the elemental nature of life and death. During the festival bullfights the dance of life and death is played out in a drama between the bull and matador. I am always interested in exploring why people want to face and test death. The tension created between the bull and the matador’s elegant ballet movements are intensified by the bull’s long sharp horns coming within inches of the matador. I photographed the powerful antagonist – the bull, to heighten and juxtapose the grace and beauty of the matador’s artistry against the bull’s power. The bullring presents danger and a matador’s one-inch miscalculation can cause certain death. When a matador enters the bullring to test his courage, he grabs life by the throat. The bullring is high theater even when the bull’s horns leave many bullrings with bloodstained sand.