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Spirited Portraits from the World’s Largest Gathering of Twins
As soon as New York-based photographer Lisa Wiltse heard tell of the Twins Days festival, she knew that she could not resist making a pit stop in Twinsburg, Ohio along her upcoming road trip throughout the states. As the most popular yearly get-together of twins, triplets, quadruplets, and multiples of all kinds, the festival attracts thousands of individuals with the promise of good food, fun activities, and camaraderie amongst those who understand what it’s like to paired with another person from birth.
In 2012 when Wiltse attended the festival, she reports that the crowd reached to an estimated eighteen hundred. Twins are welcome to dress alike, and many do as part of the festivities, but they all express themselves with individual panache. The weekend includes carnival rides, craft stands, and games for all; snacks and goodies are available in the food court, and the grown-ups can indulge in a beer tent. Most everyone, says the photographer, looks forward to a twin talent show, and every summer, selected sets of twins will have the honor of being crowned as Kings, Queens, Princesses, or Princes. The titles come with a crown for the men, a tiara for the women and girls, and a scepter for the boys.
The Twins Days festival, founded in 1976, arose in part as a way of celebrating the town, given its name in honor of a pair of twins from Connecticut. Since then, it has grown, attracting returning families and fresh faces each year. Wiltse says there’s something undeniable about the connection between twins, and on this jovial occasion, everyone was glad to be photographed. The people that attend Twins Days are empowered by the solidarity it inspires, and many stay friends for years to come, awaiting the one weekend per year in which they can all be reunited once more.
All photos featured in this post can be found on Offset, a new curated collection of high-end commercial and editorial photography and illustration from award-winning artists around the world. Offset is a category partner on Feature Shoot.