Statues always fascinated Pierre Jahan, whose first successful documentary photograph was "The Devout Christ of Saint John's Cathedral in Perpignan," published in 1934 in collaboration with Raymond Gid, showcasing the cathedral's statues. This fascination accompanied him throughout the years of the occupation of Paris during the Second World War. In December 1941, Jahan undertook clandestine documentary work to immortalize the toppling of statues ordered by the Vichy regime to benefit the German war effort. After the Liberation, this body of work attracted the attention of Jean Cocteau. From this artistic collaboration emerged, in 1946, the first edition of the book "Death and the Statues," which combined Jahan's photographs with texts and captions written by Cocteau. This work remains one of the most important testimonies of the Occupation of Paris.