In several countries throughout Europe, winter spurs a string of Pagan rituals and carnivalesque festivities that -- since before the dawn of Christianity, in some cases -- have served as means for humans to converse with mother nature and celebrate spring's upcoming rebirth. Many of these otherworldly traditions, strange as they may seem, are still being practiced today.
During the tribal rituals, which celebrate changing seasons, rites of passage, death, fertility and other events, men don costumes and take to the streets, obscuring their appearances and morphing into an amalgamation of human and beast. In essence, civilized citizens become wild men.
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Charles Fréger From the series Wilder Mann Boes, Ottana, Sardinia, Italy, 2010-2011 Inkjet Print © Charles Fréger, Courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery, New York
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| Charles Fréger From the series Wilder Mann Perchten, Werfen, Austria, 2010-2011 Inkjet Print © Charles Fréger, Courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery, New York |
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| Charles Fréger From the series Wilder Mann Juantramposo, Alsasua, Basque Country, Spain, 2010-2011 Inkjet Print © Charles Fréger, Courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery, New York |
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| Charles Fréger From the series Wilder Mann Juantramposo, Alsasua, Basque Country, Spain, 2010-2011 Inkjet Print © Charles Fréger, Courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery, New York |
