Sisters can be a number of things. They can be biological, they can be best friends, they can sleep in the same sorority house, they may wear matching habits. This is a project I’ve wanted to explore for quite some time–I started it once, over a year ago, but it hit a wall before it grew legs.

11.03.1988

When women talk about their sister growing up they often talk about fighting — fighting over clothes or toys or who has the top bunk. My sister and I have rarely fought. I was 5 when she was born. We share fathers, but I lived with my mom most of the time, so when I stayed at my dad’s house every other weekend, I was really just having a slumber party with my friend. We shared a room, and a big antique bed.

We are so similar. We both have odd senses of humor and love making people laugh. We’re goofy and witty and sarcastic and cynical. We both listen to our new favorite songs on repeat until we hate it and never want to hear it again. We both have a strong sense of what’s right and wrong and seek ways to help others, me through my photography, her through her deep sense of duty to serve as a Christian.

And see, we’re completely different. She’s tough as nails and I find myself crying at the trailers of movies. I can’t keep a secret, she always leaves you wondering what it is she isn’t saying.

Rebecca has been my favorite person for as long as I can remember. This exploration of sisterhood is in her honor.

2009

When I told her I wanted to do a portrait of the two of us, I’d imagined something beautiful and quiet and tight. But I couldn’t figure out how I could shoot what I was picturing and still have me in it… and really, we aren’t quiet. We’re dorky goofballs who laugh when we aren’t supposed to. (A funny side note, I was recovering from having my wisdom teeth pulled two days before this, so I was hyped up on a lot of pain pills and my cheek was swollen out the wazoo. Good times.)

Whether they get along or not, sisters are connected. We have our share of secrets and memories.

Check back often for the next Sisterhood column every other Friday to see where this project takes me.

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Kendrick Brinson is a photographer who lives and works in Atlanta, Georgia.  Her column, “Sisterhood,” appears every other Friday.  She is a founding member of LUCEO.

Sisters can be a number of things. They can be biological, they can be best friends, they can sleep in the same sorority house, they may wear matching habits. This is a project I've wanted to explore for quite some time--I started it once, over a year ago, but it hit a wall before ...