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.
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Whoa, had a weird feeling about that image… as I read the description, I sensed that out the corner of my eye the clothes those guys were wearing in the photo had changed!
Is that some kind of optical illusion or am I just going mad here? Be honest… :!
Hm, I wonder if they could have placed me .. I’m wearing 6 sweaters right now … rediculous trousers with paint all over it .. hair looking like .. well, just crap .. but not 2 different socks today!
Need to keep my muscles warm .. have been working outside the last 3 days … heavy work ..
I feel like a womannnnnnnnnn ….!!!
Ehehehehe …
I take it the social group in the above picture is “thug” and yes, we all know they dress the same (and strangely, look the same), just like the pic shows!
Can you find the group dedicated to DB lookalikes?
I was dissapointed to work out during my hunt for the DB lookalikes that the pictures are repeated on the page and they are not all different, shame.
JH – At the risk of encouraging stereotypes, when I saw the images above the faces suggested ‘thug’ but at least half the clothing being worn suggested ‘gay scene’.
Most thugs aren’t secure enough in their sexuality to wear pink patterned shirts like those above and get away with it in front of their mates.
Speaking as a gay guy myself I know of plenty of gay men who emulate the thug look, either as a fashion statement or because of the macho connotations that come with it.
It actually makes me laugh, because the genuine thugs don’t have any wardrobe left that the gay community hasn’t co-opted in some way and put it’s own personal spin on. Half of Canal St. in Manchester (the gay district famous as the setting of “Queer as Folk”) is a parade of shaved heads, torn jeans, combats, tracksuits, hoodies and bovver boots. The only visible difference is that gay clothing tends to be better ironed and slightly tighter
I saw no DB lookalikes but I did find a guy who looked quite like Jonathan Creek. Do I get any bonus points for that?
http://www.exactitudes.com/big.php?nr=19#01
giving the Girls from Ipanema a run for their money
wish this site was Cool Iris enabled
thanks for the link, good stuff as always around here
@ JH & Flapjack
The research was done in the Netherlands. In 1994 there was an upcoming style of music called Hardcore. The people listening to this kind of music were called “gabbers”. The dresscode for “gabbers” was the same as seen in the pictures. So it’s not the gayscene nor thugs, though the look was often considered as a thuggish look by older people.
Greets from the Netherlands
this is really eerie, but i finally noticed the same thing about Harley riders,,,, (it got warm last week and they were everywhere…..) not just here,(in Indiana) but it seems everywhere, that the more they try to be different, from the norm, average– the more they become the same–as the other Harley riders (HOGS)!
the same seems to be occuring with the tatoo and pierced crowd, pretty soon, I’ll be the really weird one, just a regular , average joe.