It’s been nearly 25 years since Charles Fréger photographed 60 Majorette Clubs in France.
When French photographer Charles Fréger began his Majorettes series in 2000, he expected to photograph a handful of clubs. Instead, the project grew into a two-year survey of majorette organizations across northern France. By the time it concluded, Fréger had visited 60 clubs during approximately 20 festivals and selected 180 photographs for publication. The resulting book, Majorettes, was released in 2002 by Éditions Léo Scheer.
The series marked Fréger’s first large-scale documentary project. It also established a photographic formula he would use repeatedly throughout his career. Each subject was photographed individually using a frontal pose, consistent lighting and a neutral background. Smiles were discouraged. Rather than photographing majorettes during parades, Fréger brought them into village halls and gymnasiums, removing the noise and spectacle of the festival from the frame.
His subjects ranged from young girls to teenagers and mothers, all wearing the uniforms of their local clubs. The standardized approach shifts attention away from the individual portrait and toward the details that distinguish one organization from another. Jackets, boots, hats, batons, gloves and insignia vary from club to club, reflecting the identity of each group while revealing the breadth of France’s majorette tradition.
For American readers, the photographs document a side of the baton world that is rarely seen outside France. Fréger photographed majorettes from village clubs across the country, preserving their distinctive uniforms, traditions and local identities.
French Majorettes at the Turn of the Century
Today, Fréger’s portraits also document a moment in time. The uniforms date to the turn of the twenty-first century. The hairstyles, fabrics, boots and equipment belong to an era that has already begun to pass. Some of the clubs have changed. Others have adopted new uniforms or new leadership, and some are no longer active.
More than two decades after the photographs were made, Majorettes remains one of the most comprehensive visual records of French majorette culture ever published. It is a reminder that baton twirling’s history was being documented not only in gymnasiums and competition arenas, but also in village halls across northern France.
