Michael Joseph (1941-) - Mozambique Bullfight - Spiking the Bull - unique darkroom print
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€ 30
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Selected by Kai Brückner
Over 35 years' experience; former gallery owner and Museum Folkwang curator.
Estimate € 850 - € 1,050
 | €30 | |
|---|---|---|
 | €25 | |
 | €20 | |
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Michael Joseph’s Mozambique Bullfight – Spiking the Bull, a unique vintage gelatin-silver darkroom print from 1959, hand signed, 34 × 44 cm, in extremely fine condition.
AI-assisted summary
Description from the seller
Mozambique Bullfight – Spain, 1959
Photographer: Michael Joseph
Photographed: Spain, 1959 (when Michael was 18 years old)
Medium: Original vintage darkroom photograph
From the Michael Joseph Archive
Raw, dramatic and caught at precisely the right instant, this extraordinary early photograph captures the dangerous physicality of a Spanish bullfight.
The matador leans his entire weight forward as the bull twists violently beneath him, hooves digging into the arena and dust rising from the ground. The diagonal thrust of the banderillas, the curve of the bull’s body and the matador’s precarious stance give the image an extraordinary sense of movement - a split second suspended by the camera.
The photograph is particularly fascinating as an example of Michael Joseph’s very early work, long before the elaborate advertising compositions for which he would later become known. Yet his instinct for drama, timing and strong graphic composition is already unmistakable.
This is an authentic vintage darkroom photograph, with the character and imperfections associated with an archival print of its age. The surviving handwritten annotation beneath the image adds another layer of history and provenance.
More than six decades later, it remains an arresting document of a spectacle deeply associated with mid-century Spain - controversial to modern eyes, but historically and photographically compelling.
An evocative early Michael Joseph image: movement, danger and photographic instinct captured in a fraction of a second.
Please note that an AI-generated simulation showing the photograph framed and displayed on a wall has been included purely to illustrate how the work might look in an interior setting. Scale and proportions are approximate and the simulation is intended as a visual guide only.
The photograph is sold unframed. Thank you for your understanding.
#MichaelJoseph #Bullfight #Bullfighting #SpanishPhotography #Spain1959 #VintagePhotography #VintagePhotograph #DarkroomPrint #SilverGelatinPrint #FineArtPhotography #PhotographyCollector #CollectiblePhotography #ArchivePhotography #1950sPhotography #MichaelJosephArchive
Seller's Story
My father, Michael Joseph, was a London-based advertising photographer, active from the mid-1960s to the early 1990s, and best known for his photographs for the Rolling Stones’ Beggars Banquet gatefold.
My continuing mission is to share what we affectionately call “the other photographs”: the lesser-known treasures from his extraordinary archive — original darkroom prints, test prints, alternative frames from major shoots, his celebrated group compositions, and more intimate, personal images.
For this special Solo Seller Auction, I am particularly excited to include a selection from Michael’s 1964 Vietnam archive — photographs that have never previously been seen or offered for sale. These remarkable images reveal a very different side of his work, made when he was just 23 years old.
Alongside Michael’s authentic vintage darkroom prints, I am also presenting a new generation of works: striking prints on aluminium and my own handmade cyanotypes, created from his original negatives and transparencies in the Dordogne sunshine. Some are made on vintage photographic paper retrieved from Michael’s own working library, bringing the archive quite literally into a new generation.
Together, the collection brings photographic history and contemporary experimentation side by side — from unique vintage prints made by Michael himself to bold new interpretations of his remarkable archive.
I hope you enjoy discovering these photographs as much as I enjoy bringing them to light — sometimes preserved exactly as Michael made them, sometimes given an entirely new life.
All works are carefully protected and packed with the attention appropriate to collectible photographic artworks.
For US buyers: customs duties and applicable import charges are paid at source and included in the shipping cost. No additional charges should normally be payable on delivery, subject to any change in regulations.
Translated by Google TranslateMozambique Bullfight – Spain, 1959
Photographer: Michael Joseph
Photographed: Spain, 1959 (when Michael was 18 years old)
Medium: Original vintage darkroom photograph
From the Michael Joseph Archive
Raw, dramatic and caught at precisely the right instant, this extraordinary early photograph captures the dangerous physicality of a Spanish bullfight.
The matador leans his entire weight forward as the bull twists violently beneath him, hooves digging into the arena and dust rising from the ground. The diagonal thrust of the banderillas, the curve of the bull’s body and the matador’s precarious stance give the image an extraordinary sense of movement - a split second suspended by the camera.
The photograph is particularly fascinating as an example of Michael Joseph’s very early work, long before the elaborate advertising compositions for which he would later become known. Yet his instinct for drama, timing and strong graphic composition is already unmistakable.
This is an authentic vintage darkroom photograph, with the character and imperfections associated with an archival print of its age. The surviving handwritten annotation beneath the image adds another layer of history and provenance.
More than six decades later, it remains an arresting document of a spectacle deeply associated with mid-century Spain - controversial to modern eyes, but historically and photographically compelling.
An evocative early Michael Joseph image: movement, danger and photographic instinct captured in a fraction of a second.
Please note that an AI-generated simulation showing the photograph framed and displayed on a wall has been included purely to illustrate how the work might look in an interior setting. Scale and proportions are approximate and the simulation is intended as a visual guide only.
The photograph is sold unframed. Thank you for your understanding.
#MichaelJoseph #Bullfight #Bullfighting #SpanishPhotography #Spain1959 #VintagePhotography #VintagePhotograph #DarkroomPrint #SilverGelatinPrint #FineArtPhotography #PhotographyCollector #CollectiblePhotography #ArchivePhotography #1950sPhotography #MichaelJosephArchive
Seller's Story
My father, Michael Joseph, was a London-based advertising photographer, active from the mid-1960s to the early 1990s, and best known for his photographs for the Rolling Stones’ Beggars Banquet gatefold.
My continuing mission is to share what we affectionately call “the other photographs”: the lesser-known treasures from his extraordinary archive — original darkroom prints, test prints, alternative frames from major shoots, his celebrated group compositions, and more intimate, personal images.
For this special Solo Seller Auction, I am particularly excited to include a selection from Michael’s 1964 Vietnam archive — photographs that have never previously been seen or offered for sale. These remarkable images reveal a very different side of his work, made when he was just 23 years old.
Alongside Michael’s authentic vintage darkroom prints, I am also presenting a new generation of works: striking prints on aluminium and my own handmade cyanotypes, created from his original negatives and transparencies in the Dordogne sunshine. Some are made on vintage photographic paper retrieved from Michael’s own working library, bringing the archive quite literally into a new generation.
Together, the collection brings photographic history and contemporary experimentation side by side — from unique vintage prints made by Michael himself to bold new interpretations of his remarkable archive.
I hope you enjoy discovering these photographs as much as I enjoy bringing them to light — sometimes preserved exactly as Michael made them, sometimes given an entirely new life.
All works are carefully protected and packed with the attention appropriate to collectible photographic artworks.
For US buyers: customs duties and applicable import charges are paid at source and included in the shipping cost. No additional charges should normally be payable on delivery, subject to any change in regulations.
Translated by Google TranslateDetails
Date of print
1959
Artist
Michael Joseph (1941-)
Sold by
Owner or reseller
Title of artwork
Mozambique Bullfight - Spiking the Bull - unique darkroom print
Condition
Extremely fine
Technique
Gelatin-silver print
Height
34 cm
Edition
Vintage edition from the late fifties
Width
44 cm
Signature
Hand signed
Genre
Fine art photography
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