Judith Helmer

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Identically Different

The phenomenon of identical people who originate and have grown from a single cell is fascinating. This story is about an identical twin, born on 20 July 1996. They are 'mono-mono' twins, not only sharing the womb but also one amniotic sac and a single placenta. Two people cannot be more identical than that. They grew up in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, and pretty much the only physical difference between them when they grew up was 3 cm difference in height. While others always treated them as 'one'; they knew from a young age all too well how different they were. I met them shortly after one of them had surgery, in the beginning of 2016. After a process of years one of them made the profound decision to follow his long-felt, true identity… Laura became Laurens. This choice led to both Laurens and Yentl having to discover who they really are, as an individual and as twins. I followed them through the process of self-discovery and claim for identity. The project is still ongoing and I will continue documenting their lives. The youth picture that is part of the series is sole property of the family of Laurens and Yentl.

Judith Helmer

Judith Helmer (1982) is a Dutch documentary photographer who is fascinated with personal stories that involve questions about identity, roots and family history. She graduated from the University of Applied Photography in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, in 2017. Her ongoing graduation project ‘Identically Different’ was subsequently published in NRC (Dutch newspaper) and part of it will be shown at two photo festivals in Paris and Nantes in 2018. She was selected for the partnership with RATP and therefor one photo of this series is shown at four different metro stations in Paris for a period of three months in 2018. The project has also received an honorable mention in the International Photography Awards 2017. She has won the Keep an Eye Fotovakschool Grant 2017 with a sequel of her Graduation Project, the project plan ‘Family Matters’, which she is currently working on.