# Ugly brothers photo **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 19, 2004, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugly-brothers-photo/229994 "2004-02-19T12:01:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SentientMeat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SentientMeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SentientMeat)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugly-brothers-photo/229994/1 "2004-02-19T12:01:56Z")
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](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=240336) 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? ---
**Author:** ![istara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e79b87/32.png) [@istara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/istara)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugly-brothers-photo/229994/2 "2004-02-19T13:04:56Z")
Could [**this**](http://www.angelfire.com/fl3/Defymcbeth/images/pinheads.jpg) be it? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugly-brothers-photo/229994/3 "2004-02-19T13:08:05Z")
> [@istara](#): > > Could [**this**](http://www.angelfire.com/fl3/Defymcbeth/images/pinheads.jpg) 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: ---
**Author:** ![SentientMeat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SentientMeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SentientMeat)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugly-brothers-photo/229994/4 "2004-02-19T13:34:41Z")
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 (?). ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugly-brothers-photo/229994/5 "2004-02-19T13:38:03Z")
I’m now wondering if the Russian thing is a red herring too. Maybe it was South Africa. ---
**Author:** ![sugaree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@sugaree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sugaree)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugly-brothers-photo/229994/6 "2004-02-19T14:04:07Z")
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](http://www-sdc.med.nagasaki-u.ac.jp/n50/disaster/Microcephaly-E.html) [some](http://www.pcf.city.hiroshima.jp/peacesite/English/Stage1/1-5/1-5-6E.html) [more](http://www.bobruisk.by/hope/nervn2_eng.htm) [images](http://lovequilts2002children.homestead.com/Zachary.html) 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? ---
**Author:** ![Photog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c77e96/32.png) [@Photog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Photog)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugly-brothers-photo/229994/7 "2004-02-19T14:35:50Z")
The [Ballen Twins](http://www.guardian.co.uk/gallery/image/0,8543,-10104347243,00.html) perhaps? ---
**Author:** ![SentientMeat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SentientMeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SentientMeat)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugly-brothers-photo/229994/8 "2004-02-19T14:42:02Z")
> [@Photog](#): > > The [Ballen Twins](http://www.guardian.co.uk/gallery/image/0,8543,-10104347243,00.html) 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_. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugly-brothers-photo/229994/9 "2004-02-19T14:52:47Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![SentientMeat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SentientMeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SentientMeat)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugly-brothers-photo/229994/10 "2004-02-19T14:56:37Z")
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”?) ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugly-brothers-photo/229994/11 "2004-02-19T14:56:41Z")
[Here’s](http://www.artnet.com/magazine/features/pollock/pollock1-16-6.asp) a much more detailed version. They’re both drooling. ---
**Author:** ![SentientMeat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SentientMeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SentientMeat)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugly-brothers-photo/229994/12 "2004-02-19T15:07:41Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![arteitle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@arteitle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/arteitle)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugly-brothers-photo/229994/13 "2004-02-19T15:08:45Z")
Not to beat a dead (or just drooling) horse, but [here’s](http://www.history.und.ac.za/visualhistory/plat5.htm) a copy that’s even sharper yet. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugly-brothers-photo/229994/14 "2004-02-19T15:15:06Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugly-brothers-photo/229994/15 "2004-02-19T15:19:06Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![SentientMeat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SentientMeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SentientMeat)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugly-brothers-photo/229994/16 "2004-02-19T15:20:22Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugly-brothers-photo/229994/17 "2004-02-19T15:26:32Z")
I imagine their bodies coming out were the easy part of that birthing process. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2004, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ugly-brothers-photo/229994/18 "2004-02-19T19:42:22Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > 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. 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!_