Ugly brothers photo

I remember a photo from a couple of years ago of two brothers. Suffice it to say that they had a very distinctive appearance, both having prominent ears and very high, almost conical heads. They were wearing white short-sleeved shirts and jeans, and the photo was monochrome. It is possible that they were South African (???), and that they were taken by a photojournalist researching isolated rural communities.

I asked this as part of another thread but got no answers. jjimm said the photo was up in his workplace (and the brothers given the names of two colleagues, arf arf). The possibility of microcephaly was raised - however I don’t think the brothers were in any way deformed, just very, very ugly.

Can anyone track down the photo or details thereof?

Could this be it?

No, that photo was already considered in the other thread. They’re sisters from the US with microcephaly. The other dudes are most definitely masculine, facing the camera, and one of them was drooling (I guarantee this, because I examined the thing in detail). :barf:

Yes, the microcephalic angle is a bit of a red herring I think. The brothers had haircuts which were scalp-short at the sides but inch-long at the top, with a centre-parting, which served to accentuate their low-set ears. However, I don’t think their heads were actually malformed in any way.

If jjimm says one was drooling, then so be it - I don’t recall that detail myself. (These guys looked rather backward but not necessarily actually mentally incapacitated). He also thought they might be Russian or Ukrainian (?).

I’m now wondering if the Russian thing is a red herring too. Maybe it was South Africa.

Not every person with microcephaly is as striking as the sisters who played in Freaks, whose appearences were deliberately exaggerated by the bald head and the topknot anyway. I daresay they might have looked quite different with more hair. Babies with the most severe skull deformities do not live long. Here’s some more images of children and one adult with microcephaly. Warning: kind of sad.

Of course this is perfectly useless as far as the OP here goes. How old do you think this picture is? Assuming there is some sort of Russia-area connection, within the past two years, National Geographic ran a story on some of the lasting effects of the USSR’s disasterous environmental policies. There was a photograph of a woman and her two grown sons. Both sons had mental retardation. I can’t find the picture online, and this doesn’t sound like the photo you guys saw-- the brothers were sitting at a table with their mother standing by. But could your picture possibly be a picture of the same men from the same session?

The Ballen Twins perhaps?

Bingo!

Thanks Photog. Yes it was indeed as part of the photographic exhibition I saw it (I think in Amateur Photographer).

Apologies to Dresie and Casie for my insensitive thread title. As Christina Aguilera put it:

You are beautiful, not matter what they say.

Aha.

Note downward-drooping accessory to left-hand chap’s lower lip, and subsequent wetting of left-hand half of his shirt.

Ain’t the Dope great?

Upon inspection, the twin on the left does seem to have something near his mouth. However, I think this might be a slight imperfection on the negative: His crossed-arm stance and engaged stare do not, to me, tally with someone so handicapped that they drool uncontrollably. (I wonder if he is considered the “looker”?)

Here’s a much more detailed version. They’re both drooling.

But that vertical line on Casie (right) doesn’t appear on the other photo, while the one on Dresie (left) seems to have disappeared (or become far less noticeable). That suggests something to do with the spools on the developing machine (what do you think, Photog?).

Admittedly, Casie has some unspeakable crap down the front of his shirt, the nature of which I don’t even wish to speculate upon.

But if Dresie is such a spaz, why but him such a nice watch?

Not to beat a dead (or just drooling) horse, but here’s a copy that’s even sharper yet.

While Dresie appears to have a large wet spot on his shirt right under his chin at the point the neck V’s, Casie was at least considerate enough to have let his considerable stainage dry before submitting to the pic. In fact, his stains possibly have been dry for weeks.

You’ll have to take my word for this, guys, but we had a very large, very clear print of this on the wall in my office, and they are both drooling.

Hmm, the evidence against Casie is pretty damning on areteitle’s link. Let us agree that Casie is several bishops short of a synod.

Dresie, on the other hand, is not so cut-and-dried. I cannot say that that is definitely spittle danling from his lip, and the patch in his shirt may be shadow.

However, one need only look to the right and take a look at his identical twin brother, and I must confess: Maybe the watch is just for show.

I imagine their bodies coming out were the easy part of that birthing process.

How strange! We have a copy of this photo on the wall where I work also (among other highly attractive personages). We call it “The Sales Staff”.

We have a photo from a local paper of a guy that calls himself “Mr. Finance” that appears to be parts hound-dog and another dandy aptly named “Frenchy” who’s mother most likely had relations with a poodle.

“Poodle”! Even the name is stupid!