Picturing the Dark Side of Twins

Tereza Vlckova identifies with fairytales and daydreaming. And while that might sound like a happy existence, there is also a darker side to her sensibility—and her photographs.

“I saw Stanley Kubrick’s film The Shining when I was 16 and it impressed me a lot,” Vlckova said about an influence for her series, Two. “The two standing girls scared me a lot.”

 “I always envy twins and their real connection,” began Vlckova via email about her work.” The other thing I was disturbed by is the question about alter ego. Our dark side, I want to also picture that.”

For the project, Vlckova shot real twins for some of the images and other times used Photoshop to create a twin for the model. She won’t divulge which ones are real, preferring that the viewer try to guess.

Vlckova was born and lives in the Czech Republic, “in a small town surrounded by hills,” she said. She started to take pictures on a whim when she was 15 and has stuck with it ever since. She feels inspired by “the strong photographic art scene in the Czech Republic.”

That environment was certainly another influence for Two. Via email she wrote:

“I always imagine the two innocent, exactly same girls, standing in the wood when I went for a walk, they are not afraid; they are exactly the same—in the nature where there is no same tree, or straw of grass. This courage I want to have, not to be scared in the dark.”

Much of her work, including the recent A Perfect Day, Elise …, focuses on women in an almost ethereal way. “I think the world of women is more familiar to me, as I am a woman,” Vlckova explained. “I feel a woman’s sensibility—I am very sensitive and very poetic and romantic; in many ways this is closer to my work”

Vlckova isn’t looking to be pigeonholed.

“I think every project looks for a specific approach,” Vlckova wrote. “I don’t want to repeat myself, so I am always trying to find new ways to express things, always asking myself, ‘Who are we? Why are we here?’ ”