La Malagueta explores the world of Morante de la Puebla through the photography of Maurice Berho

Photography and bullfighting come together this summer at La Malagueta in an exhibition that invites visitors to look beyond what happens in the ring. Under the title ‘La belleza del misterio’ (The Beauty of Mystery), French photographer Maurice Berho presents a selection of images dedicated to Morante de la Puebla, one of the most recognisable figures in contemporary bullfighting.

The exhibition can be visited until 22 August 2026 in the interior corridors of Málaga’s bullring and forms part of the cultural programme organised by Málaga Provincial Council to celebrate the 150th anniversary of La Malagueta, in collaboration with Fundación Cajasol.

However, this is not an exhibition designed as a chronology of victories or memorable afternoons. Berho’s aim is to explore a much more personal side of Morante: moments of concentration, waiting, shadows, gestures and those fleeting instants that would normally disappear within seconds.

Morante de la Puebla beyond the bullring

‘La belleza del misterio’ offers a different way of discovering Morante de la Puebla.

The photographs do not simply document passes, performances or specific moments during a bullfight. The camera also stops before and after the action, when the protagonist is no longer only the bullfighter and the person behind the public figure begins to emerge.

Light, silence and body language become just as important as movement itself.

Berho has followed Morante’s career for years, allowing him to build an archive that combines scenes familiar to bullfighting fans with much more intimate images.

The intention is for each photograph to work independently, capturing an emotion that can be understood even by visitors who know little about bullfighting.

An exhibition focused on emotion rather than chronology

The title of the exhibition reflects much of its approach.

For Maurice Berho, photographing a bullfight is not simply about recording what happens in front of the lens. His work is based on patience and on anticipating the precise second when an expression, a posture or a particular light can transform an everyday scene into something different.

That is why ‘La belleza del misterio’ does not attempt to tell the story of Morante de la Puebla’s career from beginning to end.

There is no sequence of seasons, trophies or major dates. Instead, visitors encounter a collection built around sensations: concentration, tension, stillness, movement and anticipation.

Berho presents the exhibition as an attempt to approach something that can be difficult to explain about certain artists. In some photographs, the bullfighter is clearly the focus; in others, attention shifts towards the man, the surroundings or even what is happening away from the centre of the scene.

Maurice Berho: four decades photographing bullfighting

Behind the images is a photographer with a long career specialising in the bullfighting world.

Maurice Berho was born in Dax, France, and has lived in Seville for around four decades. For more than 40 years, he has photographed bullrings across Spain, France and the Americas, developing his own distinctive visual language around bullfighting.

As well as being a photographer, Berho is also a writer and has published photographs and texts in a variety of specialised publications.

His approach aims to go beyond purely documentary photography. Rather than simply showing what happened in the ring, his images attempt to preserve the emotion surrounding particular moments.

That philosophy is especially clear in the selection dedicated to Morante de la Puebla, whose personality and approach to bullfighting provide Berho with numerous opportunities to explore expression, pauses and atmosphere.

Morante, between bullfighter and cultural figure

Choosing Morante de la Puebla as the central figure of the exhibition is no coincidence.

José Antonio Morante Camacho has built a career characterised by a highly personal interpretation of bullfighting, in which aesthetics and the pursuit of particular moments have become an essential part of his artistic identity.

That dimension has also made him a figure of interest beyond strictly bullfighting audiences.

In 2026, the Andalusian Regional Government recognised his career with the Medal of Andalusia for Culture and Heritage, highlighting his artistic and cultural significance.

The Málaga exhibition operates within that same territory: rather than focusing exclusively on the results of individual bullfights, it looks at Morante as an artistic figure and explores the details surrounding the way he approaches each performance.

Photography inside one of Málaga’s most historic venues

The location adds another layer to the exhibition.

The photographs are displayed inside La Malagueta, one of Málaga’s most recognisable buildings and a bullring celebrating 150 years since its inauguration in 2026.

The exhibition forms part of the programme organised by Málaga Provincial Council to mark this anniversary, which includes a range of cultural activities linked to the history and heritage of the venue.

Opened in 1876, La Malagueta has been part of Málaga’s urban landscape for a century and a half. Its anniversary celebrations are providing an opportunity to revisit stories, images and elements connected both with the building itself and with the evolution of bullfighting culture in the city.

In this context, Berho’s photographs create a dialogue between a historic setting and a contemporary photographic perspective.

The moments before and after the action

One of the most interesting aspects of the exhibition is what it chooses not to focus on.

Bullfighting photography can concentrate on the most spectacular moment of a performance, but Berho also pays attention to the seconds before and after.

A glance before entering the ring, a shadow falling across a costume, a pause or an apparently insignificant gesture can contain as much information as the action itself.

Photography makes it possible to freeze moments that would be almost impossible for a spectator in the arena to notice.

In this way, ‘La belleza del misterio’ offers a slower experience of an art form defined by its fleeting nature: what happens in front of the bull can never be reproduced in exactly the same way again.

A cultural plan during Málaga Fair

The exhibition’s dates also mean that it coincides with one of the busiest cultural periods of the year in the city.

The show will remain open until 22 August, the final day of Málaga Fair 2026, making it an additional cultural option for anyone visiting the city during the festivities.

Its location, close to the Historic Centre, Muelle Uno and La Malagueta beach, also makes it easy to combine the exhibition with other tourist and cultural attractions in Málaga.

For visitors planning to attend one of the bullfighting events taking place in August, the exhibition also offers the opportunity to discover another way of looking at what happens inside the arena.

Useful information about ‘La belleza del misterio’

📷 Exhibition: ‘La belleza del misterio’.
👤 Photographer: Maurice Berho.
🎭 Main subject: Morante de la Puebla.
📍 Location: La Malagueta Bullring, Málaga.
📅 Until: 22 August 2026.
🏛️ Part of: the cultural programme marking La Malagueta’s 150th anniversary.
🤝 Organised by: Málaga Provincial Council.
🎨 In collaboration with: Fundación Cajasol.

‘La belleza del misterio’ transforms the corridors of La Malagueta into a small gallery where photography freezes what would normally pass too quickly: a glance, a pause, a movement or a moment of silence.

Rather than reconstructing Morante de la Puebla’s career, Maurice Berho invites visitors to observe him through fragments and discover how, in certain images, photography can turn a single second into something that lasts.

Full information about the exhibition can be found in the official publication from Málaga Provincial Council on ‘La belleza del misterio’.