Charles Fréger (born 1975) is a French portrait photographer.

Education

Fréger was a student at the

École supérieure d'art et design Le Havre-Rouen The École supérieure d'art et design Le Havre-Rouen is a public school of art and design established in two of the main cities of Normandy, Rouen and Le Havre. History Rouen art school was funded by painter Jean-Baptiste Descamps in 1741, ...

in Rouen.

Life and work

He is best known for his series of photographic portraits of people in

Uniform A uniform is a variety of costume worn by members of an organization while usually participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are most often worn by armed forces and paramilitary organizations such as police, emergency serv ...

(national guards,

French Foreign Legion The French Foreign Legion (, also known simply as , "the Legion") is a corps of the French Army created to allow List of militaries that recruit foreigners, foreign nationals into French service. The Legion was founded in 1831 and today consis ...

Sumo is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by th ...

, skaters, Majorette, etc.), which play on the relationship between the signs of belonging to a group and the individuality of the wearer. For ''Wilder Mann'' (2012), Fréger travelled across Europe to photograph the costumes and masks worn by people at the surviving pagan folk festivals that mark the coming of spring, winter or new year. For ''Bretonnes'' (2015), Fréger travelled throughout Brittany "making austere, formally beautiful portraits" of young women in traditional costumes and headwear. Fréger is a founder of an international network of artists, Piece of Cake (POC).

Publications

*''Portraits photographiques et uniformes''. Paris: 779 and

Société française de photographie The Société française de photographie (SFP) is an association, founded on 15 November 1854, devoted to the history of photography. It has a large collection of photographs and old cameras. Among the founding members were Olympe Aguado, Hippoly ...

, 2001. . *''Majorettes''. Paris: , 2002. . *''Légionnaires''. With an essay by Raphaëlle Stopin. Paris: 779 and Château d'eau, 2002. . *''Donneurs''. Preface by Pierre Etschegoyan. Ponctuation, 2002. . *''Bleus de travail''. With an essay by Marc Donnadieu. Rouen: POC, 2003. . *''Steps''. Cherbourg: POC / Le point du Jour, 2003. . *''Le Froid, le gel, l'image : Merisotakoulu''. With an essay by . Paris: Léo Scheer, 2003. . *''Rikishi''. With an essay by

Chihiro Minato is a Japanese photographer, filmmaker, arts curator and art theorist. He is also Professor at the Tama Art University since 1995. In 2000, Minato served as curator of the arts exhibition ''Serendipity: Photography, Video, Experimental Film and Mu ...

. Rouen: POC, 2004. . *''2Nelson''. With an essay by Bill Kouwenhoven. Rouen: POC, 2005. . *''Lux''. With essays by

Stéphane Bern Stéphane Bern (; born 14 November 1963) is a French-Luxembourgish journalist, radio host and television presenter. He is known as a specialist in nobility and royalty. He has been awarded honours by several nations, including the Ordre des Arts ...

and Didier Mouchel. Veenman, 2007. . *''Les Fleurs du paradis''. With an essay by Fréger. Villa Noailles/archibook, 2008. *''Empire''. With an essay by Prosper Keating. Paris:

Thames & Hudson Thames & Hudson (sometimes T&H for brevity) is a publisher of illustrated books in all visually creative categories: art, architecture, design, photography, fashion, film, and the performing arts. It also publishes books on archaeology, history, ...

, 2010. *''Wilder Mann'' **''Wilder Mann: the Image of the Savage''. Stockport, UK:

Dewi Lewis Dewi Lewis (born Denbigh, Wales, 10 March 1951) is a publisher and curator of photography. Career In 1975, Lewis was the founding director of the Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury Metropolitan Arts Association which operates The Met (arts centre), ...

, 2012. With an introduction by Robert McLiam Wilson and an essay from the International Museum of Carnival Masks in Belgium. English language edition. **Thames & Hudson. French language edition. **Kehrer. German language edition. **Peliti. Italian language edition. **Seigensha. Japanese language edition. *''Outremer''. Villa Noailles/Archibook, 2013. *''L-12-12''. Göttingen, Germany:

Steidl Steidl is a German-language publisher based in Göttingen, Germany. Founded in 1968 by Gerhard Steidl, it publishes photobooks. Overview The company was started by Gerhard Steidl.Bill Kouwenhoven, "Off to see the wizard", ''British Journa ...

, 2013. *''La Danse du lion''. Fotokino, 2014. . Flipbook. *''Bretonnes''. With a foreword by

Marie Darrieussecq Marie Darrieussecq (; born 3 January 1969, Bayonne) is a French writer. She is also a translator, and has practised as a psychoanalyst. Her books explore the unspoken and abandoned territories in literature. Her work is dense, marked by a consta ...

and detailed texts by Yann Guesdon. **''Portraits in Lace: Breton Women''. Thames & Hudson, 2015. . English language edition. **Arles: Actes Sud, 2015. . *''Yokainoshima'' **''Yokainoshima: Island of Monsters''. Thames & Hudson, 2016. . English language edition. **''Yokainoshima: Célébration d'un bestiaire nippon''. Arles: Actes Sud, 2016. . French language edition. **''Yokai no shima''. Seigensha. . Japanese language edition. **''Yokainoshima: Rituali di maschere giapponesi''. . Peliti. Italian language edition. *''Parade, les éléphants peints de Jaipur''. Paris: grandes personnes, 2017. . *''Cimarron: Freedom and Masquerade''. Thames & Hudson, 2020. . English language edition. *''Souvenir D'alsace''. Musée historique de Strasbourg, 2023. . *''Aam Aastha'' **''Aam Aastha: Indian Devotions''. Thames & Hudson, 2023. With essays by Anuradha Roy and Catherine Clement. . **''Aam Aastha: Incarnations et divinités en Inde''. Arles: Actes Sud, 2023. .

Exhibitions

*''Aam Aastha'', ,

Rencontres d'Arles The Rencontres d'Arles (formerly called ''Rencontres internationales de la photographie d'Arles'') is an annual summer photography festival founded in 1970 by the Arles photographer Lucien Clergue, the writer Michel Tournier and the historian ...

, Arles, France, 2023

References

External links