I met Eduardo and Miguel Portnoy by chance. I was waiting at a red light when I saw them crossing the street: two identical men, walking hand in hand in the evening light. The sight stopped me cold. Something about their presence, their symmetry, struck me as extraordinary. I felt an immediate need to photograph them.
I pulled over and searched for them, thinking they were headed to the bus stop. But by the time I got there, they had vanished. Disappointed, I asked a news-stand vendor if he had seen the twins. He told me they passed by every day. I explained I was a photographer, gave him my card, and asked him to hand it to them if he saw them again. I didn’t expect much, but the next afternoon I received a call: “Hi Ignacio, it’s Miguel, Eduardo’s twin brother.” We arranged to meet for coffee, and the moment I met them, I knew their story could not be reduced to a single photograph.
Eduardo and Miguel were born on May 1, 1968, and have never been apart. They live together in a modest two-room apartment in Buenos Aires, sharing a bedroom as they always have. Over the years, they lost their parents, a brother, and extended relatives. They never married, never had partners, and have no close friends. Today they are alone in the world, but never lonely:they have each other. Their twinly alliance saved their lives—in a symbiosis at the service of survival, it’s where they wove the canopy that sheltered them from emotional exposure.
Their daily lives follow a steady rhythm. Each morning they pray at the temple, then go to the same office. Sometimes they ride the bus, other times they walk, always side by side. On Fridays, when Shabbat begins, they dress in suits and bow ties. As Eduardo once told me, “You have to be well-dressed to talk to God.”
Eduardo, the elder by ten minutes, carries the traits of the older brother: responsible, attentive to rules, the one who sets the tone. Miguel, in contrast, is more irreverent, more daring—the one who first reached out to me. Still, their differences are subtle. They share the same routines, tastes, and values. They never tried to separate or define themselves against one another.
Their story is one of profound companionship, where vulnerability, love, and the unbreakable strength of their bond shape every aspect of their lives. While most of us seek partners, friends, or family to soften the solitude of existence, Eduardo and Miguel never needed to look far. They have always had each other—since before they were born.
