The rituals are centuries old and celebrate the seasonal cycle, fertility, life, and death. People literally put themselves into the skin of the "savage," in masquerades that stretch back centuries. By becoming a bear, a goat, a stag, a wild boar, a man of straw, a devil, or a monster with jaws of steel, these people celebrate the cycle of life and seasons. The costumes amaze with their extraordinary diversity and prodigious beauty. Work on this project took leading French photographer Charles Fréger to eighteen European countries in search of the mythological figure of the Wild Man.

The photo series Empire is a long-term project (2004–2008), comprising portraits of a wide variety of elite troops across Europe, mostly Republican or Royal Guards, who stand out for both their historical and very colorful uniforms and for the draconic protocolary rule common in such units.

The work of French photographer Charles Fréger is considered groundbreaking in the complex genre of contemporary portraiture. In extensive series he portrays individual members of social groups—be it sports clubs or professional guilds—who demonstrate their affiliation to the specific collective through external signs such as uniforms.