Over the past 25 years, French-Canadian photographer François Brunel has traveled the world, photographing around 250 pairs of doppelgangers.
Translated from German to “double walker,” Doppelgängers originally meant the ghostly counterpart of a living person. In folklore and literature, meeting someone who could become your twin has traditionally been seen as a bad forehead. However, in modern use, the term often describes two unrelated people who are very similar to each other. This concept is the focus of Brunel’s photography series, “I don’t look!”
The inspiration for this project came from something like his own look: Mr. Bean, played by British actor and comedian Rowan Atkinson.
After years of being told he looked like a character, Brunel watched an episode that included a scene called “nasty” to see his doppelganger.
“I said, ‘Oh my god, he looks like me, he’s in the bath!”, Brunel said.
When he realized that he wasn’t the only thing he looked, Brunel began taking pictures of the doppelganger together. Some of the pairs he captured didn’t see the similarity of “sometimes very surprising (and funny)”.
He started a project in Montreal with Lookalikes, whom he knew in Canada. As media coverage grew and the words spread on social media, he received thousands of messages from people all over the world. Many of the doppelgangers he filmed know each other in real life and, like Estelle Scholten and Agnes Lonstra, find themselves similar to each other after being told by others.
In 2013, Loonstra was approached by a man on a Dutch train. He accidentally thought she was Scorten, one of his college students, and encouraged Rostra to reach out to her.
Meanwhile, Scholten learned about the encounter from her professor. Curiosity led Loonstra to find Scholten on Facebook. Scholten shared a translation of the first message he received from USA Today and Loonstra.
“Esther, maybe a bit unexpected message, but recently I approached the guy on the train and he thought I was you! He told me he was your teacher and told me I was an Arnhem girl. Maybe inger, bangs, almond-shaped eyes?”
Scholten felt that she was looking at herself when she saw the photo of Loonstra on Facebook.
“Even our mouths are somewhat similar. So strange!” Scholten responded to her message to loonstra.
They both found their traits to be so unique, and so surprisingly, as they thought they were unique.
The two decided they would enjoy meeting, and when they did it they realized it wasn’t just a similar look.
“There were almost horrifying moments during our first encounters, like the moment we put our legs and pulled up our chairs, or the moment we discovered a way to laugh and laugh at the exact same time,” Scholten said.
Loonstra was 25 years old, and Scholten was 30 when we met on May 4, 2013. At the time, Loonstra was part of an acapella group that rehearsed in Scholten’s hometown. People waved at her thinking she was Scholten.
“The people I knew told me when I overtook them, I was rude for not saying anything,” Scholten said.
There, Loonstra began to turn around to the stranger, followed by a text that informed her by Scholten.
From their first meeting, friendship was born as they discovered that the same music, literature and Scholten shared their love for what they call “struggling” cat love.
“About half of whatsApp conversations are about cats,” she said. “We’re proud of our crazy cat woman.”
That love gave us the inspiration for the book they published together, entitled “Crazy Cat Lady.” It has been featured by Workman Publishing in New York, released in English all over the world, and translated into Spanish, German, Finnish, and even Dutch, the native language of Loonstra and Scholten.
Agnes also played a special role as her honorary maid at Esther’s wedding.
“Agnes looks like a sister I didn’t have,” Scholten said.
They don’t live in the same area of the Netherlands, but they try to meet each other at least once a month.
Loonstra reaches out to Brunelle after hearing about his project from several people who sent it to her. Loonstra and Scholten were later included in a study at the Josep Carreras Leukemia Research Institute in Barcelona, confirming that other Doppelgängers photographed by Brunelle were not associated with other Lokalikes.
Of the 32 pairs studied, the researchers found that they expressed similar DNA variations, particularly regarding genes involved in the formation of facial features. Height and weight also showed similarities.
Manel Esterer, the lead investigator of the study, called it “a purely coincidence of genetics,” and does not imply that the pairs are related.
Despite research findings, Loonstra and Scholten are frequently asked by strangers whether they are biologically related.
The Brunelle website features a Lookalikes callout and created pages on Instagram and Facebook for the project. This year, Brunelle is set to release a book featuring around 100 photos of the pair he shot, as well as short stories from the subject or his perspective. He shared some of those stories with USA Today.
Roniel Tessler and Garrett Levenbrook | New York City, 2013
“I was born in New York, and a friend of Roniel, DC Roniel, in Washington, met me at the University of Michigan four years ago and mistaken him. They contacted us and discovered that we lived close to each other. – Levenbrook
Beatrice Nogueira and Bruna Soares da Costa | Lisbon, Portugal 2015
“I work in HR and Beatrice is a student. We were both born in Portugal and we were friends since childhood. First, when people started mixing us, we had a look. I was sure my dad was me. – Soares Da Costa
Karen Chu and Ashley Wong | Culver City, California, 2013
“I’m a nursing student, but Ashley is a registered nurse. I think most non-Asians look like all Chinese, but that’s far from true. I think I’m lucky to have met my ‘sister’ Ashley in a traditional Chinese dance performance. – Chew
