Attack of the Clones - Exactitudes

Many of us like to believe that we are unique and special, but in reality we conform to a certain GroupThink in our actions, mannerisms, ways or speaking and dressing, and value and belief systems.

Artists in the Netherlands have pounced upon this phenomenon and taken it to a bit of an extreme, maybe to make the point that in their rush to be different, many people are really quite like others and don't even recognize it.



From the Exactitudes Web site:

Rotterdam-based photographer Ari Versluis and profiler Ellie Uyttenbroek have worked together since October 1994. Inspired by a shared interest in the striking dress codes of various social groups, they have systematically documented numerous identities over the last 14 years. Rotterdam's heterogeneous, multicultural street scene remains a major source of inspiration for Ari Versluis and Ellie Uyttenbroek, although since 1998 they have also worked in cities abroad.

They call their series Exactitudes: a contraction of exact and attitude. By registering their subjects in an identical framework, with similar poses and a strictly observed dress code, Versluis and Uyttenbroek provide an almost scientific, anthropological record of people's attempts to distinguish themselves from others by assuming a group identity. The apparent contradiction between individuality and uniformity is, however, taken to such extremes in their arresting objective-looking photographic viewpoint and stylistic analysis that the artistic aspect clearly dominates the purely documentary element.