Some places seem to have been created in pairs. Igboora, a small town in south-western Nigeria, is one of them. Here, twins are everywhere, as if life itself had grown used to repeating itself. With 45 pairs per thousand births, it is the world capital of twins. Yet the title says little about a community that has made twinhood an identity, a way of inhabiting the world.

Among the Yoruba, twins — known as Ibeji — hold a sacred place. When one of them died, a statuette was carved in their likeness and cared for like a living child, so that the bond would endure. These ritual objects say what matters most: some bonds withstand everything, even death. Echoing these statuettes, the work of Olympia de Maismont takes on a particular resonance. The West Africa–based photographer and video journalist has documented, with humanity and power, the duality of the Ibeji: two beings who answer one another, mirror one another, attune to one another without merging.