This is me & this is me
Many people say "that's me" when they point at a picture of themselves. They point at their portrait and identify themselves with it as if the picture really is them. They don't say "this represents me". You recognize yourself in a picture, and that's enough to identify yourself with it.
“When it comes to photographs in a family album, it is not surprising to see people react just like toddlers before they have acquired the ability to speak: They will simply point at something, their faces lighten up.”
– Jörg Colberg on Popelier's work in FOAM Magazine #25 Traces, 2010.
While going through a lot of old family pictures Willem Popelier saw many pictures of his identical twin brother and himself, without knowing who he was. He constantly saw two little boys in the pictures and didn't know whether he should look at the left or the right boy to see himself. How could he then point to one of them and state that "this one is me"?
If someone like his parents knows which boy he is in a picture, they can tell which one he is, but this doesn't change a thing for Willem Popelier. He still looks at two similar boys. Popelier can then say that the specific boy represents him, but he can recognize himself also in the other boy. This recognition is the reason for many people to say "that's me".
Although Willem Popelier is not able to tell which of the two boys represents him in the pictures, he decided that he recognises himself in both boys and therefore identifies himself with them both. "This is me and this is also me."
Framed inkjet prints, 33x27 cm, 2010
Exhibition view (detail) at C/O Berlin, 2012
