The twilight world of European folklore is a place where many of my interests intersect; historical, cultural, psycological, geographical. Like a blurry black and white photograph, crackling old vinyl, or the patina of an object that belies generations of use, folklore speaks to us from far away. A folkloric tradition comes to us indirectly and refracted, as an artifact not only of something ancient, and often exclusively rural, but also of something very deeply rooted, yet hidden, within our collective psyche. In this way folklore can transport us back to the world of the pastoral idyll, which is really what I'm mostly interested in here.
I'm a little bit late on this one, but spotted this the other day - a collection of photographs of Charles Fréger which examine traditions of mythological transformation and celebrate the seasonal cycles of death and rebirth. My edit below, more on National Geographic here and the book here too.
