Axel Hoedt

Following Once A Year (Steidl, 2013), Dusk continues Axel Hoedt’s journey through the carnival culture of southwestern Germany, and extends it into Austria and Switzerland. Hoedt’s project is to undermine traditional (and often clichéd) representations of carnival: here are no paraders somersaulting before the crowds, no embarrassing scenes of drunken debauchery. Instead, he photographs the revelers in earnest poses, static against a bright background, in a forest or next to rural buildings, juxtaposing classic studio photography, Polaroid snapshots and still-life imagery. Often installing the quaint colorful masks within an unforgiving winter environment, Hoedt reminds us of what carnival once used to be: a final celebration before the dawning of hard times.