II
I have always had a fascination with twins. I wished to be a twin as a kid and have always thought I would one day have a pair of my own. This fascination is what first inspired this series. In the Winter of 2018, I had the chance to photograph Dani and Beni, a set of twins that I have known since they were tiny babies in the NICU. When I returned to Savannah to continue this series for a class project, I photographed multiple sets of twins. During this time, I realized that Dani and Beni’s story would become a stand-alone creation and that my new work would develop into a larger project.
While working to develop my images, I found that despite creating beautiful work, there was still something missing in my new photographs. When I first started working with twins in Savannah, I was mainly focused on showing how identical they were when wearing the same clothing—-posed as a mirror-image of each other. Through multiple critiques and great feedback from my professors and peers, I finally came to the realization that this body of work wasn't about how identical they were on the outside but instead on how deep their internal connection was. I photographed ten sets of twins in matching outfits posing back-to-back, looking directly at me. I soon learned where I had gone wrong.
When I photographed the twins Ruby and Ava, I had to alter my regular routine. When I first asked to photograph Ruby and Ava, their mother informed me that Ruby was a special needs child and that my initial vision may not come through in my photographs of her and her sister. I would simply have to adjust if I wanted to photograph them. Even with the changes I would have to make, I knew I had to go—-even if it meant not having what I needed to complete my project.
I went to their home (no other twins were photographed at home), wearing whatever they were already dressed in (no planned attire as I had managed in the past), and with no posing.
During my first classroom critique of these photographs, I worried that I would be reprimanded for the fact that the ones of Ruby and Ava did not fit my other photographs. I quickly realized that I was missing a key element in the other photographs and that these “misfit” photographs were actually representative of what I was trying to accomplish all along.
I wanted to photograph this incredible connection between children that come into this world together... The images of Ruby and Ava reflected exactly that.
After this realization, I contacted each of the parents of the twins I had spent so much time photographing and asked them if they would be willing to let me into their homes and allow me to experience life with them through my lens. Much to my surprise, everyone was very willing to welcome me into their lives and allow me access to their private worlds.
The photographs I made from this point produced a very different, and much greater, experience for the viewer. I genuinely owe each set of twins and their families a huge thank you for pushing me into new areas, bringing me to a whole new way of seeing and responding to my subject matter.