This weekend I opened my studio to Portland art enthusiasts for the biannual NW Marine Artworks Open Studios event. I chose to exhibit my identical twins work, along with paintings and some photographs of birds. The twins were a huge hit with the thousands of viewers who passed through my space - so much so that, with the encouragement of the many people who were moved and intrigued by the images, I'm going to do what I've wanted to do for years: turn the project into a book.
(Over 8,000 people passed through the doors of NW Marine Artworks over the course of the weekend. What an engaged and enthusiastic art-loving community we have in Portland!)
I began this series back in 2004, when I photographed about 50 sets of identical twins. Ten years later, I rephotographed 15 sets. After another ten years, I rephotographed four of those.
I'm making it my mission this summer to track down and revisit many more of the twins from the 2004 shoots. At summer's end, I'll begin working on the book. I'm excited to get started!
Here are the four triptychs I've made so far, all of which were exhibited this weekend:
Atticus and Alexander
Terrie and Sherrie
Tanya and Tenaya
Jan and Sheri
In the last image - the quadruplets (the two girls on either end are identical twins) - the girls were photographed yearly, but only for three years because the family moved to Europe. Great for them, sad for me.
(Thank you, Sharon O'Keefe, for the picture you took of me in my studio.)
