Portrait of a Pagan
French photographer Charles Fréger is in search of adventure — adventures in costumery. For his ongoing Wilder Mann portrait series, he visits all corners of Europe — 19 countries and counting — seeking the mythical ‘wild man,’ specifically what he might have worn as a glimpse into what he might have thought.
Fréger researches and cosplays various European masquerade traditions and popular imagery with the ultimate aim of dismantling the notion of the prehistoric caveman as savage and unintelligent. “We now know,” he points out, “that our Homo Sapiens DNA contains 5% of Neanderthal genes.” In the meantime, he’s clearly having fun dressing up — pagan-style.
