Photographer Francois Brunelle has created a really cool photo series of pairs of people who look alike, even though they are unrelated and complete strangers. You can see more on Google images. In some cases, the resemblance is amazing; there are a couple that, at a glance, could pass for twins, like these ladies, these guys, and perhaps these guys. I get the sense that if I knew these people in real life, I would mix them up occasionally. The rest, I think, are definitely not twins, but still uncannily close. Even though I can clearly see the differences between their faces, it somehow feels like I’m looking at the same person when I look back and forth between them. I do find that the more I compare them, the more dissimilar they seem.
The thing is, a few of these pairs aren’t particularly similar to me at all. For instance, these guys actually look significantly different from each other. They’re both bald white guys with blue eyes who look about the same age, but the shape of their heads, their faces, and their facial features (particularly their eyes and eyebrows) all look very different to me. I don’t think I’d ever note any similarity between these two if it weren’t pointed out. Same goes for these ladies. When I saw them, I was like, “Those two are supposed to look like twins? Really?” Their smiles are distinctly similar, but nothing else about them looks even remotely close, to me.
Still really cool, though.
Oh, hey! Even cooler: I just discovered that the project is still ongoing! If you know of - or are part of - a pair of lookalikes, you can contact him on his website or Facebook page. It looks like a lot of people (at least on Facebook) are also just submitting their photos, saying, “Hey, do you know anyone who looks like me?”
Now I’m off to the Straight Dope Photo Gallery. There have to be some twins in there, right?
French-Canadians - they all look the same to me!
Really cool, thanks for sharing. I ran in to Andy Dwyer’s doppelganger last weekend.
Robert Crumb (yes) and his cousin meet each other after 40 years.
http://www.crumbproducts.com/larger_views/wherescrumbsummer08.htm
Happened in real life to me when driving truck thru Illinois, had breakfast with a man who thought I was his neighbor, good conversation, really enjoyed the time. When I got up to leave he called by someone else’s name and I used my drivers license to prove that I was not who he thought I was.
My boyfriend LIVES WITH his doppelganger. Purely on accident. They were looking for roommates and he was the first one to respond. They both have black hair, the same bald spot/beard/glasses, very similar age/build/weight. They aren’t so exactly identical that they get mixed up in person, but the photos are uncanny.
Not going to post a picture without his permission, of course.
You’ve got to show them this project and get them to do a portrait, and then they can hang it in their living room. How awesome would that be!