A World of Twins, Sunshine Coast, Australia

Photography is concerned with capturing those magical moments that so often pass us by unseen in the reality of everyday life. Sometimes it happens with family snapshots; a passing episode inadvertently recorded. It is a rare talent among professional photographers to be able to enter into the intimate world of people, often strangers, and reveal their unique relationships with each other and with the world around them. This is what Helga Dalla has consistently achieved with her photographs of twins.

Twins, two children born of one mother as a result of the same pregnancy. For us who are single born there is often a curiosity, even fascination, about what it would be like as siblings sharing the experiences of growing up simultaneously; sharing common moments of realisation and perception and rites of passage.

‘A World of Twins’ is a photographic study that explores the special world of twins; the unique relationships, the sympathetic likenesses and the common experiences of 33 sets of twins ranging from infants of 6 weeks to 100-year-old sisters. Helga didn’t have to look far to find her subjects. Over the several months she was engaged in the project she has been inundated with enquiries from sets of twins and the parents of twins from every corner of Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, all eager to be involved in the project.