H is for...Hodag

The strange looking Hodag is a creature from North American folklore. It has "the head of a frog, the grinning face of a giant elephant, thick short legs set off by huge claws, the back of a dinosaur, and a long tail with spears at the end". Due to the spines along its back, the Hodag cannot sleep on its side and leans against trees instead. To kill the creature lumberjacks would saw through part of a tree and wait for the Hodag to lean against it, when it fell over its spines would get stuck in the ground leaving it helpless and open to attack.

A Hodag was discovered in 1893 by Eugene Shepard in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. Shepard wanted to capture the creature alive and gathered a hunting gang to help him. After they found that their guns had no effect on the beast they decided to use dynamite, but the resulting fire killed their prey leaving nothing but charred remains. Shepard claimed that he had caught another Hodag in 1896 and he put the creature on display at the first Oneida County Fair. Hundreds of people paid money and went to see the beast which Shepard could move with a series of wires in order to make the hoax seem more real.

Folklore Portraiture.

'Eyes as Big as Plates' is a stunning series of photographic portraits by the talented Riitta Ikonen (Finland) and Karoline Hjorth (Norway).

"Inspired by the romantics’ belief that folklore is the clearest reflection of the soul of a people, 'Eyes as Big as Plates' started out as a play on characters and protagonists from Norwegian folklore. During a one month residency at the KINOKINO Centre for Art and Film in the South West of Norway, the Norwegian photographer Karoline Hjorth and I collaborated with sailors, farmers, professors, artisans, psychologists, teachers, parachuters and senior citizens... The series has since moved on to exploring the mental landscape of the neighbourly and pragmatic Finns. In June 2012 Finnish senior citizens modelled in the wilderness of south and eastern Finland."

Click HERE and HERE to see more photos from the series.

I love the look and feel of these portraits - bringing the everyday and the mythical together in a perfect mix of strange and spooky. They have an extremely earthy, natural look to them, despite their subjects wearing modern day clothing. 

That last photo definitely reminds me of my trip to find the treasure of Callow Pit the other day. Mist and fog are my very favourite weather types - the whole world feels more magical when its covered in fog, and maybe a bit more frightening too!

I would love to find out which characters from Finnish/Norwegian folklore these portraits are based on, so that I could gain a better understanding of the photos - plus the characters just look so interesting! I'm sure their stories must be more than wonderful.