Likeness | Iya x Belle

I’ve always had a fascination with twins and it’s been a long-time goal to style, direct a shoot with them. Iya and Belle are identical twins and were very young when they first appeared in front of my camera. They were then about four or five years old and they have grown so much since then! But they remain as lovely, sweet and shy as before and I’m glad I got to see and take more pictures of them this time around.

It did occur to me I may be confused a lot seeing they look so much alike plus they'll be wearing identical clothes. I later on found a distinction betweent them and am glad to say I can tell them apart, or probably most of us can. But still, dressing them alike is expected. I wanted to show their similarity along with differences.

This is another one of those slow-themed sessions. Well, the shoot was a bit hurried because we had a little time left between the long drives and we were after the golden hour. Despite the bit of rush, I wanted the photos to look calm and not hurried, depicting an afternoon siesta in the fields, not caring about the world, waiting for the sun to go down. This is always a feeling I want to experience every single day and I want to keep seeing it as much as possible in my work. I wanted to show their friendship as sisters and their special bond as twins.

Of course, much should be acknowledged to the support group of this project, Auntie Roselle, Uncle Nabi and to the twins’ parents Beverly and Ian for allowing me to photograph the girls and giving me full creative control of this session. Some of these moments may not make sense but I hope they make you feel good inside, connect with them or simply appreciate Iya and Belle's beauty as they already are in real life. They're first time "models" but they did such a great job, don't you think?

San Jose, Neg Or

Photos by Kat Banay