Lucien Clergue

French, 1934 - 2014

https://lucien-clergue.com/en/biography/

Clergue is a native of Arles, France. He is a fine-art photographer,author, educator, and filmmaker. His work has been associated with Jean Cocteau, Pablo Picasso, Roland Barthes, and the Gypsy Kings. During his adolescence, Clergue witnessed the destruction of his family’s house by World War II bombs and suffered through the illness and death of his mother. It was during this time that he discovered photography. Much of his career has been photographing subjects that express loss, death, and decay. He is known for his female nude torsos of the mid 1950s-1970s and bullfight shots from the Arles arena. Clergue is the founder of the Recontres Internationales de la Photographie in Arles, France. He received his doctorate at the University of Provence, Marseilles under the direction of Roland Barthes in 1979. He has taught at the New School of Social Research.