Photography: Ariko Inaoka captures the ethereal magnetism of identical twins

Few things enchanted me more as a child than identical twins. I’m sure that all schools had a set – usually split into different classes to make them distinguishable for teachers – and the hilarity which ensued when they would recognise their interchangeability in the eyes of others meant hours of fun. Not to mention my complete awe at seeing a relationship so close and completely binding that not even having to share everything could come between them.

Mine is exactly the kind of fascination that Ariko Inaoka has cottoned on to with her series about beautiful Icelandic twins Erna and Hrefna. Ariko first met the girls four years ago when photographing the country’s landscape and has returned every year to take pictures of them. She plans to continue until they are 16, thereby creating a kind of catalogue to document the way their relationship changes as they grow. The photographs are really very beautiful; all hazy light and long flowing hair, and full of the kind of symmetry that must crop up naturally all over the place if you’re a twin. Look on inquisitively all you like; these two tiny elfin creatures exude the kind of magical magnetism that rarely occurs in real life.