Artist and photographer, Charles Frèger travelled the world to 18 different countries including Italy, Poland, Scotland and the Czech Republic to document the many different, still-practiced, pagan rituals and their costumes throughout Europe. Frèger was searching for what they call “The Wild Man”:
A centuries-old, legendary figure, the Wild Man continues to be an important symbol of transition associated with festivals that mark the cyclical patterns of life: the changing of the seasons, special religious holidays, rites of passage, life and death. In full-length portraits, the artist photographs celebrants enveloped in traditional costumes crafted from layers of animal skins, local plants, bones and antlers, which visually transform the masqueraders into a wooly bear, a long-horned goat, a demon or man of straw. Fréger photographs these imaginative creatures in their native landscape and explores human fascination with myth, ritual and tradition.
Check out more from his series after the jump, and view the entire series on his website HERE!
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