Charles Fréger


Charles Fréger is a French portrait photographer.
WWW charlesfreger.com

Education

Fréger was a student at the École supérieure d'art et design Le Havre-Rouen in Rouen.

Life and work

He is best known for his series of photographic portraits of people in Uniform, which play on the relationship between the signs of belonging to a group and the individuality of the wearer.
For Wilder Mann, 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, 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.

Publications

  • Portraits photographiques et uniformes. Paris: 779 and Société française de photographie, 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. Rouen: POC, 2004..
  • 2Nelson. With an essay by Bill Kouwenhoven. Rouen: POC, 2005..
  • Lux. With essays by Stéphane Bern 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, 2010.
  • Wilder Mann
  • *Wilder Mann: the Image of the Savage. Stockport, UK: Dewi Lewis, 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, 2013.
  • La Danse du lion. Fotokino, 2014.. Flipbook.
  • Bretonnes. With a foreword by Marie Darrieussecq 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