By the spring of 1971, the Rolling Stones, who owed more taxes than they could pay, left England before the government would seize their assets. Mick Jagger settled in Paris with his new bride Bianca, and guitarist Keith Richards rented a luxurious villa, Nellcote, in Villefranche-sur-Mer with Anita Pallenberg and their son Marlon. After an unsuccessful search for a studio, the band decided to use the help of a mobile recording truck connected to a basement studio.

Throughout their time at Nellcote, the band had several visitors, everyone from John Lennon to Gram Parsons, as well as a young photographer named Dominique Tarlé. Invited to stay, Tarlé ended up documenting [through photographs] the happenings during the recording on one of the greatest rock albums of all time, Exile On Main Street.

In an interview about the book, Tarle said, “… I realised that pictures are far more important than the photographers themselves. For myself, I could only say that the whole of the game was to remain invisible and to have the least possible impact on what was going on around me.”

via: RollingStones