Seeing Double

I have long been thinking about getting a digital camera, a small point and shoot, so I can take it everywhere with me and shoot interesting things I see and post them on the blog. Today, on the R train home, I was very sorry I had not made that purchase, for across from me in the train sat two boys who were not only identical twins, but were also wearing matching blue parkas and orange knit hats with the word "Milwaukee" in blue script. They were each drinking an RC Cola. They looked to be about 11, though I am bad guessing ages, had dark eyes and olive-toned skin. They looked calm and self-sufficient, mature beyond their years, talking in low tones about something I was too far away to overhear. There were so many things I wanted to ask them: whether they were really from Milwaukee or just fans of that city, what it was like to be a twin, if their parents made them wear matching outfits or they did it of their own free will.

If I had had to ask permission to shoot them I would been able to ask all those things, though I might have been overcome by a fit of shyness. They got off at Rector Street, each carrying a bag. The bags did not match.

I got home and took the dog out for a walk, where I promptly ran into another set of twins near the subway station: also identical and identically dressed boys. These two were probably about 4, wearing blue parkas, looking concerned or perhaps cold.

I don't know why I found this so moving, but I did. I thought about Diane Arbus and her fascination with shooting twins. Is it because it challenges our notions about our own uniqueness? Do we envy twins because they are not alone in the same way other people are?