The photographer Charles Fréger, know for his research on the significant social role of outfits in communities, captured in pictures the annual elephant festival in Jaipur, Rajasthan, where elephants and their riders – called “mahouts” – dress up in special colors and ornaments, hoping to win the first prize for the best decorated couple. The elephants are decorated with painted colours, jewels and bells. Similar for the mahouts, who dress up in brocade jackets and coloured turbans. In the serie of portraits, colours and patterns mix together the elephant and the mahout, underlining in some way the deep connection between them.

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