Lorna Simpson 

In Same Two, Simpson uses the image of the braid as a signifier of shared experiences and cultural ties. Through eight photographs, connected in two rows, Simpson depicts a similar knotted hairstyle to the one in Back . However, this hairstyle is shown on two subjects with one long braid connecting the two. The text explores the similarities and differences between the two subjects. Both “knew illness” and “worked for the same pay,” but they “were not related” and “had never met.” Another phrase suggests workplace discrimination, in that both “were let go for the same reasons.” Simpson also alludes to the disproportionate amount of violence experienced by Black women and the fear it fosters: both subjects “read the news account and knew it could have easily been them.” The connection of the braid represents the links of shared experience and trauma among Black women, even if they do not know each other, turning the metaphorical bond into a physical one. The rope-like construction of the braid may also allude to the intergenerational trauma exacted by slavery.. https://image.nostr.build/26c9125013e7a18ea9fe5b7763a0430ad0310fe863760c6f8f4f0e1f9a3d83d1.jpg