I have no idea who these guys are. Jay and I were visiting Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Art one day and started to pose in front of the lobby’s installation-in-progress of Boston Globe pages (later whitewashed and hung with mirrored panels in many colors by Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone.) These two charming copycats decided to do the same thing and gave me their camera so I could take a picture of them. When I was done, I shot them with my own camera, and here’s the result. I’ve started to imagine who they might be. (Friends, one of whom lives in Boston, the other in New York, they only get to see each other occasionally and make the most of their limited time together.) Part of the fun of visiting the ICA is the building itself, perched as it is over Boston’s harbor. Its oversized internal glass elevator serves up an amusement-park thrill as you ride to the exhibition galleries on the fourth floor. Even a simple stop at the gift shop is a creative experience. And, as you can see, the lobby offers an easy photo op. Cheese, guys.
Here's what happens to them both: Their long-distance relationship busts up and they lose touch and go separate ways. When the dust settles from the 2012 Iran-Israeli War, the one on the left rediscovers his Persian roots and goes to war-ravaged Teheran to set up a home for gays who had been persecuted under the (now deposed) Islamic regime. The one on the right, traumatized by the destruction of Israeli cities, converts to Judaism and works at a gay kibbutz. In 2048 their paths converge at an Iran-Israeli Gays for Peace confab at the Tel Aviv war memorial. They don't recognize each other until the mention of "Boston 2008". Two old men then realize each step taken had been a step back towards each other. And an old photo is supplemented by a new one.
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