A Striking Resemblance: the photography of François Brunelle
Posted On
(Credits: Far Out / François Brunelle)
The school system can engender a false impression that early life is a rehearsal for the real world. This is, of course, far from the truth: as the proverb, “Every day is a school day” suggests, school never really finishes. There are also no rehearsals, and guiding passions will often arrive far from the classroom. In the case of today’s featured photographer, François Brunelle, it all began with a camera.
At the age of 15, the Canadian photographer received his first camera, a Praktika, as a gift from his parents. As he set out on his teenage photographic pursuits in the late 1960s, Brunelle became increasingly interested in people and, more specifically, their faces. Over time, adult life demanded commercial work in graphic design, advertising and theatre, but he never forgot his preferred medium.
After a few decades in commercial photography, Brunelle set himself a task to sate curiosity in his favourite medium. In 2000, he embarked on his so-called I’m not a look-alike! project, with the intention of locating Doppelgängers around the world and inviting them to the studio for a photograph.
Brunelle set himself the ambitious target of capturing 200 “couples,” as he refers to them. Alongside several other projects and professional endeavours, this staggering task took him 12 years to complete. This seemed like a reasonably impressive record since locating Doppelgängers willing and worthy of travel expenses and studio time is difficult and time-consuming.
Personally, I would have started by reaching out to Will Ferrell and Chad Smith, drummer of Red Hot Chili Peppers, as the only Doppelgänger pair I can think of. However, to find 200 couples, Brunelle had to rely on word of mouth. In public advertisements and addresses, he encouraged anybody who knew of a look-alike pairing to get in contact.
Willing participants would send Brunelle their names, region and nation of residence, alternative contact information and photos. The last thing Brunelle needed was a 12-hour flight only to realise his participants looked nothing alike.
Naturally, Brunelle had to contend with Doppelgängers who were hesitant to comply with the arrangements or uncomfortable posing with a total stranger—as much as they might look like family. With all hurdles cleared, Brunelle invited his subjects to the studio, where he would have them dress in similar or identical clothing and jewellery. Finally, he took his snaps, opting for monochrome photographs to homogenise the palette for optimal similarity.
As you can see in the small sample I obtained below, the results were remarkable. Some of the Doppelgängers lived many miles from one another, and others displayed strikingly similar features despite being of opposing sexes.
During our brief exchange, Brunelle informed me that, over the past year or so, he has been working on a book to showcase I’m not a look-alike! The project was a hard-fought labour of love that Brunelle describes as the party of his career of which he’s most “proud” despite winning awards for several more easily accomplished endeavours.
