In 2023 a doppelganger is an everyday thing, at least if it's AI-generated. A few years earlier, I learned first-hand that they exist in real life too. This is a short entry on my doppelganger, David McMahon.

Eight years ago, I think, a friend of mine in Stockholm sent me a DM on Instagram with a wild photo. He was at Fotografiska, a museum for photography, and there was an exhibition called Pony Kids.

I hadn't seen the exhibition, nor the original book, and I still haven't. So I can't speak to it very much. I can however speak to the photo that my friend sent me.

It was a photo of me, taken in 1999, Ireland, on horseback. While many of my friends still might believe that this is me, lest they have heard me tell this tale before, I can assure you it is not: I had not been to Ireland prior to 2021; I have never ridden a horse; I was a young boy in 1999.

I am still shaken by how cool this is. Who is this man today? Who was he in 1999? How likely is it even to have a doppelganger? Granted, I've only seen one photograph of him but the similarity is striking. No one in my close circles took it for another person when they saw the photograph, not even my parents or siblings.

In lieu of my own image, in admiration of fate, I've taken this photograph for my new online avatar. I hope that's OK.

David McMahon on Flash, Pony Kids, Perry Ogden, 1999

If you know anything more about Pony Kids or David M., I'd love to learn more.