The concept of the doppelganger is nothing new in art. The idea of a 鈥渟econd self鈥 has appeared in literature, cinema and painting for centuries, but became particularly popular after Freud explored the concept in 1919. Robert Louis Stevenson鈥檚听Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde听(1886)听is considered essential reading in the English literature canon and one of the key titles of gothic horror, its story exploring the evil nature hidden behind a seemingly benign exterior. In the art world, Ren茅 Magritte鈥檚 Surrealist paintings, like听Not to Be Reproduced听(1937), often featured uncanny clones of the same figure.
In 2024, over 100 years since Freud, the concept has taken on a life of its own. Journalist and activist Naomi Klein won the inaugural Women鈥檚 Prize for Non-Fiction with听Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World,听which explored her experience of being mixed up for a woman with the same name but radically different views. The internet was taken by storm by endless celebrity lookalike competitions, with Timoth茅e Chalamet entering as himself in Washington Square Park. At the end of the year, the BBC published an article titled 鈥溾 In an era where everyone can alter images and post an edited version of our lives online, each person can create a 鈥渄ouble鈥 of themselves in an instant.听
Jana听艩antav谩鈥檚 photographs tap into haunting and unsettling ideas of human duality. The artist鈥檚 latest series,听Echoes of Identity,听employs multiple of the same figure to bring the contrast between internal worlds and external environments to life. Her images feel like film stills, creating an eerie and suspenseful narrative that the viewer is left to fill out for themselves. The protagonist is always facing away from the lens, caught peering around a curtain or gazing into a mirror.
The images are ambiguous in their location in time and place, a typewriter or military uniform prompting questions around where, and when, the picture is located. 艩antav谩 has received numerous prestigious awards, including a听Gold Medal at the Budapest International Foto Awards 2023听and a听Silver Prize at the World Photo Annual 2023. Her work has been exhibited in renowned galleries across Europe, including Paris, Milan, Budapest, Athens, and Bratislava. In 2024, she presented a solo exhibition at the听Slovak Institute in Berlin.听
Words: Emma Jacob
All images courtesy of the artist.
