Jalan and Jibril Durimel create fictional scenes to tell the true stories of African culture through photography. Born in Paris to parents from Guadeloupe and raised in Miami and St. Maarten, the twin brothers’ exposure to a plethora of places and people instilled a strong foundation of curiosity and empathy that they carry into their artistic practice. 

“We have come to believe that fiction is a theme park for the imagination, a final play place that acknowledges that peace is amongst the people,” they say.

Breaking Boundaries, Pushing Opportunities

The Durimel brothers’ first foray into photography followed a rigid documentarian path: They traveled to particular areas to photograph what they witnessed. But they soon found this process constrictive and lacking originality. 

Everything changed after the twins were introduced to Brief Encounters (2012), a documentary about renowned photographer Gregory Crewdson, who staged elaborate scenes for each picture. The Durimels note that watching this film pushed them to pivot their attention from documentary photography to fictitious image making. In particular, the photographers hope to create joyful images of the African diaspora that reference the Pictorialist movement of the 19^th century. 

“Contrary to the rigorous political climate of Black imagery today, we began this venture with the primary intent of presenting an optical delight, similar to the Impressionist movement of the late 1800s,” they explain. “For us, beauty serves a simple purpose: to inspire and accompany individuals in their pursuit to lead dignified lives with the hope to make this world a better home.”

Capturing the Beauty of the Tropics  

In 2023, fashion designer Grace Wales Bonner commissioned the Durimels to direct a film for the campaign of her Adidas capsule collection in Portland, Jamaica. Together they gathered a cast to make a poetic film that shared the beauty of recreation among Rastafarian pre-teens growing up on the island.

Recently, the brothers were approached by T Magazine to photograph a cover story for the publication’s 2025 travel issue. Durimel and Durimel were able to choose any destination for the project, and elected to return to the island of their ancestry, Guadeloupe. 

“For years we’ve collected old postcard images of the Caribbean islands often dating back to colonial times,” they explain. “Due to the end of analog photography as the norm, contemporary images of the Caribbean felt clinical and lacking in sensuality. We went to Guadeloupe with a simple intention in mind: to make new images of our mother’s homeland that could rival those on the souvenir placemats and postcards we had seen over the years.”

Untamed Curiosities

The Durimels have had great success in the fashion industry, noting that it has provided them immense financial freedom and led to fruitful creative collaborations. However, they observed that fashion advertising had somewhat limited their autonomy by placing too much emphasis on the wardrobe. They began to envy the freedom of other artists who were seemingly free to chase after their “untamed curiosities.”

Realizing this truth led the brothers to begin Quiet as the Country, a photography series eight years in the making that documents the quotidian life of a fictitious region, which sits at the confluence of Western, African, and Asian aesthetics. 

“Here we have been free to design costumes, cast, explore Senegal and the Ivory Coast, and create without commercial boundaries,” the Durimels say. “This invaluable experience has taught us about ourselves, collaboration, patience, and the courage it takes to develop an artistic identity.” 

They plan to complete this project in 2026 with the money awarded to them as part of the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Fashion & Culture. The twins say that immigrating to the United States has afforded them the opportunities to pursue their ambitions. 

“Though America has its share of faults, it is undoubtedly one of the fairest and most open-minded societies in history,” they state. “Our travels have been a clear reminder that we are very fortunate to live in a country that most people immigrate to and not from.”