Brothers (2015)

A relic from the pre-MAGA era, Brothers (2015) is a book that strips away context from personal and professional photographs of then-President Barack Obama and President Vladimir Putin. Two men who exist as figureheads of powerful nation-states, but two men who also are just two human people. With no text and images grouped by similarity (i.e. both men wearing snazzy hats in their early twenties), it invites readers to consider other narratives for these two individuals outside of international news headlines. The project originated from a Google search of "Барак Обама" in Russian and "Vladimir Putin" in English -- a reverse-engineered analysis of social biases about each leader. I researched, designed, and produced the book. [Book photography by Andi Sapey]