The powerful connections of twins – in pictures
Detroit-born, London-based photographer Peter Zelewski built a career in street photography before turning his attention to twins four years ago. “As a portrait photographer and as a human being, I’ve always been fascinated by twins, by that incredible bond we hear about,” he says. It was never intended as a full project, but “once I took my portrait of the first set of twins it was a massive addiction and there was no going back”. Zelewski’s forthcoming book, Twins (4 October; Hoxton Mini Press, £16.95), features the images and stories of 44 sets of identical twins. The project is primarily a visual one, he says: “It’s not a documentary or scientific project – my main goal was to make powerful, emotive portraits of people.”
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Violeta and Irina
(25 years old, Irina older by 1 minute) ‘It was really important that my parents approved of my new fiance but equally important that Irina approved of him too. When I marry, this will be the first time we will be properly apart. It will be a very weird transition.’ -
Joao and Edmundo
(23 years old, Joao older by 10 minutes) ‘Our parents were born in Portugal but we were born in the South of France and have spent most of our lives there. England is our home now. This is where we want to stay.’ -
Samantha and Casilda
(19 years old, Samantha older by 30 minutes) ‘We both love all types of food – Indian, Chinese, Mexican, whatever. We have almost identical taste buds, except when it comes to peas. Casilda hates peas and picks them out of her Chinese food. I love them. I suppose we can’t agree on everything.’ -
Dawn and Heather
(18 years old, Dawn older by 26 minutes) ‘I remember in our primary school play we were cast as two crazy twins called Axel and Throttle who lived in a cottage made out of candy. I find it interesting how the most comedic characters were twins. It was inevitable that we were chosen to play them.’ -
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Julia and Sophie
(6 years old, Sophie older by 20 minutes) ‘We are always changing our minds on what we want to be when we grow up. I love art, I am always drawing and would love to be a famous cartoonist one day. Sophie loves animals and dreams of being a gamekeeper. The most important thing to us is making sure we are always first to help others.’ -
Devontay and Dijon
(23 years old, Devontay older by 1 minute) ‘We love being twins. The only downside is that when we are apart friends often mistakenly approach the “other” twin which gets really embarrassing when you have no idea who they are.’ -
Vår and Ronja
(22 years old, Ronja older by 3 minutes) ‘Not having each other is something we don’t like to think about. That’s just too scary. Only by being a twin will you be able to understand the close relationship we share. We are soulmates, best friends and love each other more than anyone else.’ -
Polly and Sophie
(31 years old, Sophie older by 30 seconds) ‘We can unlock each other’s iPhones because we have almost identical fingerprints. We are a rare breed of identical twins called “monozygotic twins” and have virtually indistinguishable DNA. We would be a forensic expert’s biggest nightmare.’ -
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Pu and Pla
(27 years old, Pu older by 1 minute) ‘We see ourselves as a unit, our lives count as one. We don’t need to speak to be able to read each other’s feelings – we can tell through body language.’ -
Lilibet and Litiana
(8 years old, Lilibet older by 3 minutes) ‘Our mum told us that when we were born we were placed in a small cot in the hospital lying next to each other. While Lilibet was having her nappy changed I woke to realise that, for the first time, she wasn’t next to me. I started crying and our mum quickly placed Lilibet back down next to me and I immediately stopped. I started stroking Lilibet’s face and we later found out that she had a large hole in her heart that required surgery. It was as if I knew that my twin needed protecting.’ -
Joanna and Susandjo
(23 years old, Joanna older by 1 minute) ‘Last week we argued over something really petty and refused to sit together on the train. Joanna is the stubborn one – she moved five rows back. The argument only lasted 20 minutes and soon she was back in the seat next to me.’ -
Sophie and Emily
(15 years old, Sophie older by 2 minutes) ‘Sophie is always stealing my clothes. She drives me crazy because she always denies it. Unfortunately, although I have grown two inches taller in the last few months, we’re still the same size, so I can’t see things changing any time soon.’ -
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Elson and Elton
(18 years old, Elson older by 5 minutes) ‘I first knew I was gay when I was 13. It was a scary feeling but I felt so much better when I talked about it with Elton who told me he was bisexual. It was a revelation. We both came out to our parents a few years later and they have been nothing but supportive.’ -
Wendy and Gaye
(56 years old, Wendy older by 4 minutes) ‘I am the doer in our relationship, the dominant one, whereas Gaye just follows me. She makes me so angry sometimes but she’s my best friend at the end of the day, the only one who can put me in my place.’Photograph: All photographs copyright: Peter Zelewski
