Twins: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This is a color archival pigment print from the negative. The photograph depicts two twin sisters on the street in Manhattan, New York. The full-length portrait depicts the twins standing next to each other in poses resembling hip-hop locking dance moves: center hands held up palm-to-palm, other hands on hips, and their proper right feet stepped forward to meet toe-to-toe. They both wear fur coats and low-top white Adidas sneakers. The sister on the left has a black fur with dark brown trim, dark pants, and red fat laces in her sneakers. Her hair is styled in two side buns with deep, swooped bangs and she wears large, gold-colored, bamboo door-knocker earrings along with one gold ring on each hand. The sister on the right has a light brown fur coat over a red shirt and cuffed blue jeans, with black fat laces in her Adidas. Her hair is straight with a center part and she also had a gold ring on each hand. The twins stand on the sidewalk in front of a brick and cement wall painted a dark red.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 2000; printed 2021
• Photograph by: Jamel Shabazz, American, born 1960
• Subject of: Unidentified Woman or Women
• Type: pigment prints
• Type: portraits
• Medium: pigment-based ink on paper
• Dimensions: H x W: 14 × 11 in. (35.6 × 27.9 cm)
• Place depicted: Manhattan, New York City, New York County, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Families
• Topic: Fashion
• Topic: Hip-hop (Music)
• Topic: Photography
• Topic: Urban life
• Object number: 2021.63.2
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture purchased with funds provided by the Smithsonian Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © Jamel Shabazz Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.