Elliot & Erick, photographers: ‘We want to talk about Afro-Cuban religions in a more contemporary way’ | Tradition

The lifetime of Cuban-born twins Elliot and Erick Jiménez (Miami, 1989) looks as if one thing out of a film. Self-taught and precocious, they’ve devoted many years to vogue pictures, imbuing it with a creative aura that performs with syncretism, transculturation and identification. They rose to fame in 2023 once they shot the primary Spanish-language cowl of Time journal in its 100-year historical past. The topic of their pictures was Bad Bunny, the king of reggaeton and the present music scene.

The Jiménez brothers at the moment are opening their first institutional solo exhibition, which will likely be hosted by the Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) from August 28 till February 8, 2026. The exhibition is curated by Marisa Lacayo, who’s initially from Nicaragua. It’s entitled El Monte (“The Mountain”), a reference to the influential work by Cuban ethnologist and author Lydia Cabrera, who died in 1991. The guide, solely not too long ago translated into English in 2023, is taken into account by many to be the bible of Afro-Cuban religions.

Question. You each primarily used to do vogue pictures. What impressed you to leap into the artwork world?

Answer. Erick: We’ve at all times been desirous about artwork, however beginning in 2020, throughout the pandemic, we started to replicate on our profession and pursuits. And we determined to develop [our craft] additional. Clients at all times emphasised that our work was very inventive.

Creatively, [this shift] has been liberating, as a result of business tasks at all times have sure limits. But in visible artwork, now we have full management to experiment.

Elliot: The artwork additionally continues after the photoshoot, as a result of it includes different sorts of selections: how we’re going to print the picture, what body we’re going to make use of, what sort of supplies we’re going to make use of… we additionally experiment loads with paint and vintage objects.

Q. The exhibition references El Monte (1954), by Lydia Cabrera. What is its relationship to the Lucumí religious custom?

A. Erick: We had been raised by our paternal grandmother, who’s Afro-Cuban, and she or he was the one who launched us to Lucumí, which, by the way, is quite common in Miami. Lydia Cabrera’s guide was the primary to completely doc the beliefs and practices of African American religions on the island. These tales had been solely handed down orally, so the guide grew to become a reference for a lot of artists, like Ana Mendieta, Wilfredo Lam and José Bedia. We needed to proceed that dialog, however in a extra modern means.

Elliot: Even although we didn’t concentrate as youngsters, from the age of 18 onward, we started to grow to be [interested in learning] extra about our identification. In the Yoruba faith, as twins, they name us the Ibeji: spirits that inhabit two our bodies and signify duality. It’s fascinating as a result of, in West Africa, the place the Yoruba group originates, [you can find] one of many largest communities of twins on the planet. We seemed into Lucumí to raised perceive our personal private historical past and located parallels. The Ibeji had been deserted… and our mom deserted us after we had been 12. That’s why we grew up with our paternal grandparents.

Q. You had been answerable for taking pictures the primary Spanish-language cowl of Time journal, photographing Bad Bunny. How did that work impression your profession?

A. Erick: It was a really particular second. Up till that time, our grandparents had by no means understood what we did. But that day, with the duvet and the article in Spanish, they had been in a position to see it.

The total workforce was Latino. And Bad Bunny was extraordinarily well-known on the time, which gave us the chance to signify the significance of Latinx tradition in an American publication. Although the style world is sort of insular, they paid consideration to a mainstream journal to see what we had finished.

Elliot: It was the journal’s editor who grew to become desirous about us after seeing our inventive pictures. We thought the style business wouldn’t perceive what we had been doing… nevertheless it was the opposite means round. It benefited us. From then on, many individuals who had by no means paid consideration to us earlier than started to take an curiosity.

Q. New York is a tricky metropolis. What was your arrival like?

A. Erick: We taught ourselves to take pictures at [the age of] 15. And, by 18, we had been already working for modeling businesses. We had constructed a powerful portfolio for that point [period] and for the Miami market, which was very small. That’s after we determined to maneuver to New York, as a result of the alternatives to develop in Miami had been very restricted. But it was very tough. We didn’t obtain something and needed to return.

Elliot: Besides discovering that we needed to compete with hundreds of individuals in New York — all of them combating for a similar factor — we determined to absorb our stepsister, who was six years outdated and had moved in with our paternal grandparents. Since they had been already too outdated, we determined to remain in Miami along with her. We raised her from 2008 to 2016. It was a kind of moments when it’s important to put your life on maintain.

Q. Being twins and photographing collectively, how do you coexist whereas nonetheless sustaining your particular person identification?

A. Erick: We began pictures individually. And it was a bit aggressive. We realized we had related pursuits. So, in 2007, we determined to hitch forces. It was one of the best choice, as a result of we did so a lot better. I can’t think about doing this with out him anymore. I really feel so grateful, particularly now that I do know so many artists and may see how lonely this profession is and the way depressed they get typically. Honestly, I couldn’t say who takes which photograph; one in all us often takes pictures and the opposite directs. And then we swap. It’s all very natural.

Elliot: Sometimes, we’re each taking pictures on the similar time: one with a digital digicam and the opposite with an analog one. It’s about getting the absolute best picture, regardless of who [is taking the picture]. The particular person I wish to impress essentially the most is my brother and vice-versa. And, if we’re each impressed by the work we’ve finished, we’re certain it’s good work.

Q. Do you additionally stay collectively?

A. Elliot: We lived collectively till 2020, once I moved to Miami with my companion. But in New York — the place we spend at the least two weeks every month — we nonetheless have an house collectively.

Erick: [After he moved out], we additionally spoke on the cellphone daily, so though it was a bit tough for me to regulate at first, it wasn’t that sophisticated.

Q. And how do you expertise your biculturality?

Erick: We converse Spanglish collectively. And, having grown up in Miami — with such a big Latino group and so many Cubans round — we’ve at all times recognized as Cuban. It was after we arrived in New York that we had the largest identification disaster, as a result of there have been Cubans who instructed us, “You’re not Cuban, you’re American.” Americans, then again, stated, “You’re Cuban, because we don’t [speak like] that.” Even although we had been born within the U.S., we realized our English had a Miami accent. It was laborious for us to find our identification, to see what class others put us in. We’ve at all times lived between two worlds.

Elliot: Duality has at all times been current in our lives, as a result of along with being twins, it’s additionally current in our circle of relatives: white and Black. Our father is of Afro-Cuban origin and our mom is white Cuban, of Spanish descent. And we additionally straddle the worlds of vogue and artwork. For us, this exhibition at PAMM doesn’t signify a brand new class. Rather, it’s a second to broaden our work and our pursuits.

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