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Mount Airy, North Carolina
JUNE 2006
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When I first got to Mount Airy, I was a little worried about how to photograph a story about twins who died more than a 130 years ago. Visually, there didn't seem to be much for me to work with. But after talking to different people in town, I started finding more of Chang and Eng's descendents. I even photographed two of Eng's great-
grandsons. They're fraternal twins who also happened to be named Chang and Eng (see page 51 in the June issue). My editor loved that. |
It wasn't easy convincing some of Chang and Eng's descendents who lived in the town to let me take their portraits, and a lot of them asked, "Why me?" Growing up, some of them had been made fun of. They were among the first Asian Americans in that area, and not everyone appreciated their unique and rich heritage. |
Chang and Eng have some 1,500 descendents, and every year a lot of the family come together in Mount Airy for a reunion. I photographed the reunion last year, and during that time a new set of twins were born. So far, there have been 11 sets of twins in the family, although none of them have been conjoined. |
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