ari versluis + ellie uyttenbroek: exactitudes.

This article also appeared on Josh Spear

We’ve all experienced that high school moment where you realize that if you don’t wear the right jeans to your next hallway appearance, you… will… die.

Exactitudes, a 13-year collaboration between Rotterdam-based photographer Ari Versluis and stylist Ellie Uyttenbroek, is a study of how groups of people around the world express their individuality… by dressing alike. Whether the pull is created by class, gender, rebellion or other faces of identity, each individual subject in a series is posed and shot exactly the same. When placed together it’s the groups ubiquitous style code that’s immediately apparent, but the real interest is that by looking through the convenient veneer of sameness it’s actually each person’s differences that begin to unexpectedly shine through.

Plus, there are French surfer boys with no shirts on. And that never hurts.