Photography has long been the underdog of the art world. This is often attributed to its mechanical nature, perceived lack of labour and inability to conjure an aura compared to painting and sculpture. The work of Elliot and Erick Jiménez — two first-generation Cuban-Americans who are identical twins — refutes these limitations, however, and instead invites the viewer into a mystical world of complex images.

Surreal, regal and elemental, the duo’s protagonists appear out of time, caught somewhere between the sacred and the contemporary. Together, their work propels the viewer into a fantasy world that seeks to reconcile the transculturation of their childhood and offer a new way of seeing cultural hybridity.

The duo discovered photography at 15 when they got their first camera. They haven’t put it down since. “We didn’t have an easy childhood,” Elliot says. “Photography changed my perspective on the world and gave me something to hold onto — something to be excited about and a way to express myself. It might sound dramatic, but it’s been a liberating journey and I cannot imagine my life without it.” While the photographic duo originally began their careers separately, it didn’t take long for them to recognise that they might be stronger together.

“We were always helping each other,” Elliot says of their early days. “I never went on a shoot without Erick, and Erick never went on a shoot without me. After a few years, we realised we were interested in the same things and approaching image-making from a similar place. It just made sense to explore photography together.” The duo began shooting commercial projects in their hometown, Miami, but quickly outgrew the local market and decided to relocate to New York for bigger and broader opportunities.

Everything changed for them during the pandemic when the lockdown offered them a moment of profound reflection, and they began making personal work for the first time. “It brought up a lot of big questions: Where are we headed? Do we feel content with the work we’re making? Is there something missing?” Erick explains. “Society likes to put us all in boxes, and venturing beyond the fashion and advertising world felt taboo.

“In the beginning, people in fashion didn’t really understand our art. Once they got past that, things changed quickly. We got gallery representation, and clients started calling to commission us based on our personal work.” Elliot adds: “We’d spent so much time thinking about how to find success in photography, and it turned out that following our own path is what made people pay attention to us.”

Their first personal work and exhibition, Between Two Worlds, contemplated the spiritual tradition of Lucumí — a syncretic Afro-Caribbean religion that the duo grew up within, which emerged in late 19th century Cuba, uniting elements of Yoruba, Catholicism, and Spiritism. The series consists of four images featuring a shadowy figure representing the mother of Afro-Cuban deities interacting with a hand conceptually referencing the hand of god within European Western art.

Each photograph is printed on canvas and dry brushed while the ink is wet to give a painterly feel. Together, the powerful series speaks to the dualistic nature of Lucumí: its vital role in Caribbean life and the reality that it still exists in hiding due to cultural taboos.

Since we began, photography has been a fantasy world to escape into. Years later, it feels just as exciting as the first day we picked up a camera

“We wanted to use this project to delve deeper into our culture and understand it in the context of migration and identity,” explains Elliot. “This project is part of our chapel series, and we install the work in an environment that elicits the grandiose nature of European churches.

“Each painting is set between candle sconces we designed, offering this peaceful and meditative environment to contemplate the work. We want to open up a conversation about Lucumí and around the intersection of art and religion throughout history, asking questions about the difference between what is iconic and what is iconoclastic.”

This August, the duo will open their first museum solo show at the Perez Art Museum in Miami, presenting a new body of work in El Monte, building on their interest in Lucumí. Inspired by Lydia Cabrera’s seminal text El Monte, the exhibition will evoke a chapel and a forest — two sites associated with spiritual encounters and mystery transformations — and include work that explores their relationship as identical twins as well as reimagining well-known art historical compositions through the lens of Lucumí.

Today, the duo’s influence can be felt in exhibitions throughout the United States and Europe as well as in their collaborations with Gucci, Christopher John Rogers, Vogue, and Hermès. Perhaps their most significant impact on culture came in 2023 when they photographed Bad Bunny for the first ever all-Spanish issue of Time magazine in the publication’s 100-year history.

The shoot was symbolic of the duo on multiple levels. It was their first cover shoot; it required them to blur the worlds of art and fashion together; and it was the first time their Spanish-speaking family could understand what they do.

“The Time shoot was such a special moment for us,” recalls Erick. “It offered the perfect marriage of our worlds. With the complexity of our approach, we never know if talent will join us on the journey, but Bad Bunny trusted our process and was not put off by the things we asked him to do.” The result is a series of meticulously constructed, enigmatic portraits, each one conjuring the ineffable aura of a burgeoning musical icon.

What drives the duo’s work is visual ambiguity. Steeped in an obsession with the history of painting, their meticulous approach is constantly in flux, occupying a limbo space where the viewer isn’t quite sure what medium they are encountering. Unlike many of their peers who rely on post-production to shape their entire visual language, the duo push themselves to find the image in-camera, leaning on post-production only to further complicate the materiality of their photographs.

“It’s all done through practical techniques,” explains Elliot when I ask them about their creative process. “We constantly think about set design, lighting, colour and posture. We experiment with exposure time and shutter speed. We often rig the entire set with a fishing line, enabling us to add movement to different elements within the frame. We want to challenge the notion of what photography can be.”

Now 35, the duo have nearly two decades of experience under their belts and have found a healthy balance between ambition and pragmatism while navigating the ever-evolving industry. “It’s not a sprint. It’s a marathon,” Elliot says when I ask him about how they stay sane in a chaotic market. “It’s taken time to cement our visual language and identity into the work. Many doors have been closed on us, and we’ve had to figure the industry out on our own, making mistakes and learning to follow our instincts.”

“Since we began, photography has been a fantasy world to escape into,” adds Erick. “Years later, it feels just as exciting as the first day we picked up a camera. We are constantly learning, asking questions, and growing as artists, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.”

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