{"id":307920,"date":"2026-02-24T15:42:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T15:42:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/307920\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T15:42:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T15:42:11","slug":"for-twins-elliot-and-erick-jimenez-photography-is-an-act-of-faith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/307920\/","title":{"rendered":"For twins Elliot and Erick Jim\u00e9nez, photography is an act of faith"},"content":{"rendered":"

Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for free<\/p>\n

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople always ask us if we\u2019re going to break up at some point,\u201d says Erick Jim\u00e9nez of his twin brother, Elliot, and their creative partnership. The pair have worked together as photographers for some 20 years. Elliot responds: \u201cHe\u2019s stuck with me. He doesn\u2019t have a choice.\u201d<\/p>\n

As identical twins and first-generation Cuban Americans, they have duality in their DNA. They were born in Florida but their artistic vision was shaped by their heritage. Their current solo show at the P\u00e9rez Art Museum Miami<\/a> combines the evocative aesthetic of their commercial work \u2013 fashion editorial for the likes of Vogue Thailand and Harper\u2019s Bazaar Italia \u2013 with a mysticism mined from their family history. <\/p>\n

\"TheThe Rebirth of Venus, 2025 \u00a9 Elliot & Erick Jim\u00e9nez. Courtesy the artists and Spinello Projects\"ElEl Monte (Ibej\u00ed), 2024 \u00a9 Elliot & Erick Jim\u00e9nez. Courtesy the artists and Spinello Projects<\/p>\n

Titled El Monte (The Wilderness), the exhibition immerses viewers in the woozy world of Lucum\u00ed, a syncretic religion that emerged in Cuba during the late 19th century blending west African Yoruba beliefs with elements of Spanish Catholicism and a dash of spiritism. The twins<\/a> give it their own spin: anonymous figures hold daggers and wear ruffs; some have rams\u2019 horns; a drowned Ophelia is covered in moths. The result is a kind of gothic Caribbean surrealism. <\/p>\n

As well as photographs<\/a>, the show includes chapel-like spaces, 17th-century furniture and a large womb-like ceiba tree installation. \u201cElliot and Erick\u2019s work builds a bridge between Miami\u2019s Caribbean communities, its religious and spiritual practices, and those of their ancestors,\u201d says the show\u2019s curator, Maritza Lacayo. \u201cThe gallery is transformed into something mysterious and whimsical.\u201d <\/p>\n

Like Lucum\u00ed, Elliot and Erick were born of exile. Their mother and father fled communist Cuba with their paternal grandparents in the 1980s, heading first for Costa Rica, then to the US. They eventually settled in Miami; after their parents divorced the twins were raised by their Afro-Cuban grandmother. \u201cWe grew up with a matriarch,\u201d says Erick. \u201cShe\u2019s always been the head of the household, the breadwinner, the one you go to when there\u2019s a problem.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"FromFrom left: One to Bind, 2025, Ibej\u00ed Altar, 2025, and One to Break, 2025, on show at the P\u00e9rez Art Museum Miami \u00a9 Zachary Balber\/Elliot & Erick Jim\u00e9nez, courtesy of the artists and Spinello Projects\"ErickErick (left) and Elliot at their studio \u00a9 Erick & Elliot Jim\u00e9nez\"AA Rolleiflex camera in Erick\u2019s home office \u00a9 Erick & Elliot Jim\u00e9nez<\/p>\n

Their grandmother worked as an aesthetician and the twins were immersed in the realm of manicures and facials. \u201cWe were exposed to the beauty industry when we were very young,\u201d says Elliot. He notes a link between the experience and how their careers focus on the nuances of appearance. <\/p>\n

Growing up, we were referred to as ibej\u00ed, twins. They have their own deity<\/p>\n

It was also through their grandmother that the brothers discovered Lucum\u00ed and its sacred stories (patakis), which link Yoruba gods and Catholic saints like the merging of characters from DC Comics and the Marvel universe. However, such theological amalgamation was a taboo subject during their childhood: \u201cThere was always a sense of, \u2018Don\u2019t speak about it outside the house\u2019.\u201d <\/p>\n

The duo started taking photographs as teenagers, individually to begin with and then together. \u201cWe enrolled in a black-and-white film photography class simply to fulfil an elective requirement at high school,\u201d recalls Elliot. \u201cWe assumed it would be an easy credit; instead, we fell in love.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"ChildrenChildren of the Moon, 2025 \u00a9 Elliot & Erick Jim\u00e9nez, courtesy of the artists and Spinello Projects<\/p>\n

Their signature style of portraiture<\/a> \u2013 bringing together moody colour and chiaroscuro with a love of staged compositions \u2013 has attracted significant attention. In 2023, they photographed Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny for the first Spanish-language cover of Time magazine; their hazily atmospheric image depicted Benito Antonio Mart\u00ednez Ocasio with all the gravitas of a renaissance painting. That same year, their monumental billboard Reclining Mermaid \u2013 a representation of Yemaya, another Lucum\u00ed deity \u2013 took over a Miami street corner during the Art Basel<\/a> fair. <\/p>\n

Today they describe themselves as spiritual rather than religious; their work brings together \u201ca lot of overlapping conversations, not just about our heritage but also how this connects to our own personal journey and stories\u201d, says Erick. \u201cGrowing up, we were always referred to as ibej\u00ed, which is the Yoruba name for twins. They have their own deity within the cosmology.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cAll the projects we do, we have done together,\u201d says Erick. He refers to his brother as a \u201clifetime collaborator\u201d. Until 2021 they lived together in Miami. They also have a place in New York where they continue to cohabit. \u201cAs identical twins, we share similar interests and friends, so we often spend time together outside of work,\u201d says Erick. \u201cYou\u2019d think we\u2019d get bored with each other but we\u2019re constantly surprising one another.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ElliotElliot (left) and Erick outside Erick\u2019s home in Miami \u00a9 Elliot & Erick Jim\u00e9nez\"Ophelia,Ophelia, 2025, on show at PAMM \u00a9 Zachary Balber\/Elliot & Erick Jim\u00e9nez, courtesy of the artists and Spinello Projects\"WhoWho is the Ram and Who is the Knife?, 2025, by Elliot & Erick Jim\u00e9nez \u00a9 Elliot & Erick Jim\u00e9nez, courtesy of the artists and Spinello Projects<\/p>\n

Their identical appearance is enhanced by an in-sync sense of style. Both sport a moustache on a bed of stubble (in subtly different ratios). \u201cWe only dressed the same when we were kids because our family dressed us that way,\u201d they say. Yet neither do their outfits differ wildly; \u201cwe\u2019ll occasionally overlap, the same jeans, a jacket,\u201d says Elliot. \u201cSharing pieces has always been a plus but we like having our own points of view.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elliot seems the more gregarious, Erick more contemplative. And they have their own individual strengths at work as well. \u201cWhen it comes to the technical side of things, I\u2019m usually the one that will take the lead,\u201d says Erick. \u201cAnd then when it comes to editing and composition, Elliot will jump in.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"Sik\u00e1nSik\u00e1n (After Belkis Ay\u00f3n), 2025, on show at PAMM \u00a9 Zachary Balber\/Elliot & Erick Jim\u00e9nez, courtesy of the artists and Spinello Projects<\/p>\n

Concepts for shoots are created collectively like filmmakers going through a process of pre-production. But do they always agree? \u201cNo!\u201d laughs Elliot. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of back and forth,\u201d adds Erick. \u201cWe will challenge each other. There\u2019s a lot of bickering at times.\u201d<\/p>\n

Recommended<\/p>\n

\"It\u00a0Was<\/a><\/p>\n

And what about the idea that identical twins are somehow psychically linked? \u201cTwins have this innate connection,\u201d acknowledges Erick. \u201cAt least we feel it. It\u2019s hard to describe. It\u2019s not necessarily mind-reading, but I think there\u2019s a strong sense of [knowing] each other. Within Lucum\u00ed, they always say the ibej\u00ed are basically one spirit in two bodies.\u201d <\/p>\n

Elliot & Erick Jim\u00e9nez: El Monte is at P\u00e9rez Art Museum Miami<\/a> until 22 March<\/p>\n