Traditional Croatian Carnival Masks From Žejane

Few days ago I already made a post about these bell-carriers but in black an white version & this post you can see here: @careassaktart/this-is-my-entry-for-the-monomad-challenge-looks-like-something-is-wrong. It was kind of an experiment for me to see how would the carnival photos look in b'n'w & also it was an entry to monomad challenge. I always prefer more the b'n'w photos but it would be also a pity not to show the wide range of colors which are displayed on the beautiful uniforms of the various traditional carnival masks in Croatia.

So, enjoy the colorful vibes...

Like with almost every bell-carrier groups, here also a standard bearer lead the group & just behind him come 1st the kids.

After kids come the grown-ups

Kids are also very serious in this activity

This is one of my favorite shots in this post - the standard bearer surrounded by the squad carrying their recognizable hats with the Sun-mandala look-a-like tops, sides decorated with naked girls & colorful tapes dropping from the edge of the hats all the way down to the ground

This a very specific bell-carrier squad cause they have the Romanian roots & a very special dialect mix of Romanian & Slavic languages. They have also preserved their original historical national costume which you can see here on men, women & kids.

Here you can observe the pictures of nude women on the hat

This is also a truly amazing shot of a girl looking like wondering "What I'm doing here?" or "Something is wrong!"

I don't really know the reason why the pictures of nude girls on the hats but maybe also cause of the fertility & a new life cycle coming up with the spring...?!

One hat was really unique cause it had this crazy baby picture... hahaha...

These 2 were probably father & daughter wanted to have a memory of these moments spending together.

The grown-up squad has their own captain which they need to obey like in the army & mostly is an elder.

The teenagers have the pictures of nude teenage girls on the hats, of course!

All the upper shots I made with Nikon D800 & Sigma 105 mm 1:2.8 DG Macro HSM lens & for the self-portrait below I used the same camera but different lens - Nikon AF Nikkor 35-70 mm.

In the next few days I will be publishing photos from other bell-carrier groups cause all of them have a different uniform which is really interesting to see.

• 1st post: @careassaktart/traditional-croatian-carnival-masks-bell-carriers-from-bregi
• 2nd post: @careassaktart/traditional-croatian-carnival-masks-from-vukojevci-and-sovinjak
• 3rd post: @careassaktart/traditional-croatian-carnival-masks-from-frlanija

In this article, which I published 5 years ago, I explained in details the Croatian Carnival traditions & my personal engagement in it: @careassaktart/carnival-festival-in-croatia

In the next few video which I've recorded, edited & published, you can see few traditional bell-carriers activities during the carnival time:

Bell-Carriers from Zvoneće coming to Mučići