The double in photography

The possibility of changing identity, or of assuming more than one at the same time, has fascinated and inspired the human being since its existence.

The planet is full of signs referring to this theme, and they run through all eras, since the Stone Age.

Transfiguration and possession in the religious sphere, dissimulation and fiction in literary and comedy works, in Greek mythologies and tragedies as well as in modern works, are some examples of how the theme of "being another being" is stimulating for artists and writers of any era.

A separate mention deserves the theme of the so-called "Doppelgänger".

That is the "copy" or the "double" of a human being who, according to some, could exist in another existential dimension or literally be the "alter ego" of us.

One good example is the novel "William Wilson" by Edgar Allan Poe.

Impressive literature has developed on this theme, which reaches today and continues to propose new interpretations.

In the television series "The Boys", for example, a being with supernatural powers capable of instantly assuming the form of any human being, has the name of "Doppelgänger", just as in the saga "X-men" one of the most popular mutants is " Mystique ".

A major current of science fiction literature refers to the concept of "multiverse" and copies of all of us leading parallel lives in parallel universes.

The most obvious example of a Doppelgänger in literature is in the novel "The Strange Case by Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" by Robert Louis Stevenson. In this novel, the theme of the double develops as an "alter ego", conceived as the bad, dark side of an otherwise normal and good person.

Henry Van der Weyde, "Jekill & Hide", photomontage

The theme of Doppelgänger, in photography, counts a large number of artists who have given different interpretations but share a vision of the double through and thanks to the photographic medium. 

In the digital age, technology has given practitioners the ability to play, in postproduction, with identities and copies in a multitude of ways, from pure replication, to transition, to camouflage.

I have chosen as an example an artist of the present period who develops the theme of the Doppelgänger in two series: however, she has chosen not to use any digital manipulation technique, but, more traditionally, to compose several photographs into a single image.

Cornelia Hediger

Artist from Zurich, Switzerland, who grew up professionally and artistically in New York City.

Owner of a Master's Degree in Fine Arts, she would have liked to be a painter, but she claims to have had a sense of inadequacy and to have understood that she can express herself better through photography.

Her artworks "Doppelgänger and Doppelgänger 2" were completed in about six years, from 2004 to 2010. According to Hediger they are totally conceptual works, without place, without time, carefully staged.

For Hediger, German-speaking and close to Germanic culture, folklore and traditions, the theme of Doppelgänger (from doppel-, meaning "double," and -gänger, meaning "goer") was a natural theme to face, even if his interpretation is personal and has autobiographical references. 

Her work stimulated and inspired me: in fact, one of the proposals I made to my Tutor is inspired by the Doppelgänger of Cornelia Hediger, even if technically developed following other solutions.

In the triptych above, the set of images is articulated in the history of the direct interaction between the subject and his doppelganger (the only distinction is the color of the skirt). 

In this case, the Doppelgänger is represented as the one who maintains control and who has supremacy over the other, blaming her as she is picking up the cookies dropped on the carpet. 

I was struck by both the photographic technique used (the composition of the image using 6 images juxtaposed together, without trying to achieve perfection in alignment), and the assertiveness of the content.

I also noticed that the subject and his Doppelgänger look at each other, witnessing a direct and conscious interaction of their mutual existence.

The image above, which confirms the photographic and compositive technique, exhausts the story in a single photograph. 

The content is strongly autobiographical, as it is confirmed by Hediger, who claims that she did not choose other subjects apart from herself, in order to be able to tell her personal experiences. 

Probably, in this case, it is the conflictual relationship between the Hediger-daughter and the mother-doppelganger. The mother, who is about to go shopping, observes with detachment and superiority (gaze from top to bottom) her daughter, who would like her mother to be emotionally involved in her birthday.