Frozen! - Coffin Racing.
Nederland, Colorado. USA
2022
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In the small mountain town of Nederland, Colorado, death is celebrated with laughter.
Every year, Frozen Dead Guy Days transforms the legend of Bredo Morstoel—a Norwegian man whose cryogenically preserved body has remained in a shed above the town for decades—into one of the most eccentric festivals in the United States. Through humor, competition, and community, thousands gather to celebrate the bizarre while embracing the inevitable.
This series documents the legendary Coffin Races, one of the festival's most iconic traditions, where teams race handcrafted coffins through the streets in a spirited competition. Combining theatricality, craftsmanship, and humor, the event has become a defining symbol of the festival's identity.
Beyond the Coffin Races, the festival is also known for Frozen T-Shirt, where contestants race to put on a rock-solid frozen T-shirt; Frozen Turkey Bowling, played with frozen turkeys instead of bowling balls; the Polar Plunge, where costumed participants leap into icy water; and the Hearse Decorating Contest, where customized hearses become unexpected expressions of American vernacular culture.
These events reveal something deeply human: our ability to transform mortality into celebration and to build community through shared rituals. Rather than documenting spectacle alone, this work explores how humor can become a language of resilience, inviting viewers to look beyond the absurd and discover the spirit of a town that has turned an extraordinary story into a living tradition.
Nederland, Colorado. USA
2022
In the small mountain town of Nederland, Colorado, death is celebrated with laughter.
Every year, Frozen Dead Guy Days transforms the legend of Bredo Morstoel—a Norwegian man whose cryogenically preserved body has remained in a shed above the town for decades—into one of the most eccentric festivals in the United States. Through humor, competition, and community, thousands gather to celebrate the bizarre while embracing the inevitable.
This series documents the legendary Coffin Races, one of the festival's most iconic traditions, where teams race handcrafted coffins through the streets in a spirited competition. Combining theatricality, craftsmanship, and humor, the event has become a defining symbol of the festival's identity.
Beyond the Coffin Races, the festival is also known for Frozen T-Shirt, where contestants race to put on a rock-solid frozen T-shirt; Frozen Turkey Bowling, played with frozen turkeys instead of bowling balls; the Polar Plunge, where costumed participants leap into icy water; and the Hearse Decorating Contest, where customized hearses become unexpected expressions of American vernacular culture.
These events reveal something deeply human: our ability to transform mortality into celebration and to build community through shared rituals. Rather than documenting spectacle alone, this work explores how humor can become a language of resilience, inviting viewers to look beyond the absurd and discover the spirit of a town that has turned an extraordinary story into a living tradition.
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