Through my interest in documenting the contemporary western world, I considered the general lack of visual representations of issues related to older generations. That is when I met Mady and Monette.
Monette and Mady are identical twins. They have lived their whole life closely together and are, as they say, inseparable. I first saw them on the streets of Paris and I was instantly fascinated by their identical outfits and synchronized corporal language. Quirky and beautiful, they stood out from any crowd. As I couldn’t quite believe my eyes, I remember thinking that they might not be real.
When I approached them I was not surprised to discover that they often finish each other’s sentences and that they refer to themselves as « I » instead of « we ». Neither Mady nor Monette have married or had children and they always eat the same kind of food in identical portions.
Monette and Mady do not just share a close relationship as sisters; as a couple they act, model and dance together and the city of Paris is their main stage. If they ever go out dressed in different outfits, people stop and ask why they had an argument.
Since a great part of Mady and Monette’s lives is about performing, in front of cameras or on a stage as well as on the street, this project consists of a mix of staged and documentary images. The more staged photographs are alternated with pictures of the sisters interacting naturally as they go about their daily business. Since Mady and Monette are both eccentric yet very private people, this combination reflects their lives, particularly since it is not always obvious to tell the two approaches apart. Additionally, when I first spotted the sisters, I wasn’t quite sure that they were real so this addition of fiction makes for a dreamy atmosphere, a bit like a mirage that reflects my initial impression of them. The streets of Paris make the perfect backdrop for such ambiguity to be played out, confusing us with its references to fashion, film and art. It makes the documenting of everyday events somewhat surreal.
Mady and Monette are indifferent to the many stereotypes that are related to aging. They have in fact long stopped celebrating their birthdays and they defy any preconceived notions related to growing old. This series is an intimate journal of their togetherness and as an alternative take on the complex issues that accompanies the notion of “aging” today; I aim to pursue this series over the years, as Mady and Monette grow older.
Maja Daniels is a Swedish photographer based in London. Using sociology as a frame of research and approach, Daniels’ work focuses on human relations in a western, contemporary environment. She is the recipient of the Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize, and was a second prize winner of the Sony World Photography awards 2012. She was a participant in the 2012 World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass and selected as one of the 2011 and 2012 Magenta Foundations Flash Forward Emerging Photographers. Daniels photographs have been included in exhibitions at the Royal Academy of Arts (London), The Photographers Gallery (London), The National Portrait Gallery (London) and Getxophoto (Bilbao). Apart from her dedication to long-term personal projects she also collaborates with the weekly and monthly press as well as cultural institutions and social scientists within academic projects.
