Once a Year
Axel Hoedt
Steidl, 2013
Hardcover
£22
The Swabian-Alemannic carnival, known as Fasnacht, Fastnacht or Fasnet, is a custom in southwest Germany when the cold and grim spirits of winter are symbolically hunted down and expelled. Every year around January and February processions of people make their way through the streets of Endingen, Sachsenheim, Kissleg, Singen, Wilfingen and Triberg dressed up lavishly as demons, witches, earthly spirits and fearful animals to enact this scene of symbolic expulsion. Photographer Axel Hoedt captured the embellished disguises of the revellers in a mixture of still life, polaroid snapshots and classical studio shots. The earnest poses away from the carnival revelry and established cliches remind the viewer of what a carnival used to be, ample amounts of merrymaking laced with sinister undertones.