Taryn Simon
Relevancy:
Tarym works with imagery and text. The text she uses is non-fiction and functions to tell what the photograph subject is in a strict manner. She explores the boundaries of fantasy and truth in her work which I find very compelling since I am manipulating the truth of advertising and making my work into a fiction that attempts to tell a truth.
“Photography threatens fantasy. They didn’t want to let my camera in because it confronts constructed realities myths beliefs and provides what appears to be evidence of a truth. But there are multiple truths attached to every image depending on the creator’s intention, the viewer and context in which it is presented.” – Taryn speaking at TED Talk
Taryn is also interested in citizen of a state and how information and the access to it affect ideologies. I am very interested in how the news I watch affects my thinking and what topics I become concerned about. My work is a reflection of the things that bother me, and inspire me to change myself. Taryn explores similar topics in her work and I believe she is working from what drives her as well.
“I wanted to confront the boundaries of the citizen self-imposed and real and confront the divide between privileged and public access to knowledge.” – Taryn speaking at TED Talk
Taryn’s work is in my opinion very clean cut and isolates what she wants to show the viewer without any clutter. I feel her method of working is very effective and commend her on how much time she spends researching and contacting people. She said she spends 95% of her time setting up a shoot.
Her work often deals with what we cannot see and it is often covering topics that are taboo and the unknown. I hope that when people view my work they feel they are entering a space that is unknown and feels like they are not supposed to see what they are looking at. The intriguing feeling of discover I hope can be near the experience of humor found in my imagery and then onto critical thinking about the work. What I take from Taryn the most is her use of what is forbidden and unknown and delivered to her viewers. Even though her work is very straight forward it continues to balance on the fact or fiction boundary with viewers which I find very pleasing. Her work reminds me that truth is often stranger than fiction.
About:
“Taryn Simon was born in New York in 1975. Her most recent work, Contraband, which includes 1075 photographs of items detained or seized from passengers and express mail entering the U.S. from abroad, exposes the desires and demands that drive the international economy as well as the local economies that produce them. Her previous work, An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar, reveals that which is integral to America's foundation, mythology and daily functioning, but remains inaccessible or unknown to a public audience. Her earlier work, The Innocents, documents cases of wrongful conviction in the United States and investigates photography's role in that process. Simon's photographs have been exhibited nationally and internationally, including solo shows at: Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Museum Fur Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt; P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, New York; High Museum of Art, Atlanta; and Kunst-Werke Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin. Permanent collections include: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Tate Modern, London; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Museum Fur Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt; and Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. She is a graduate of Brown University and a Guggenheim Fellow. Simon has been a visiting artist at Yale University, Bard College, Harvard University and Columbia University. Her photography and writing have been featured in numerous publications and broadcasts including The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, Ted.com, CNN, BBC and Frontline. Steidl published An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar as well as Simon’s most recent work, Contraband, which was released in September 2010. Additionally, Simon is currently working on a global project that will be exhibited and published in Spring 2011 at the Tate Modern, London and the Neue Nationalegalerie, Berlin. Simon will be exhibiting a new work at the Venice Biennale 2011. She is represented by Gagosian Gallery & by Almine Rech Gallery in Paris and Brussels.”
“Bio.” Taryn Simon. Feb. 2011 <http://www.tarynsimon.com/bio.php>
Interviews / Quotes:
“Why did you choose photography as a storytelling medium?” - Sam Martin
“It’s something I’ve been doing since I was very young. Both my grandfather and father are photographers. Beyond a natural leaning, I like teetering between truth and fiction. It matches my conceptual interests.” - Taryn Simon
Martin, Sam. “Behind Closed Doors. Artist and TEDGlobal speaker Taryn Simon talks about her creative process and the work behind her photographs.” Design Mind. Feb. 2011 <http://designmind.frogdesign.com/articles/the-substance-of-things-not-seen/behind-closed-doors.html>
“OK. So why is interest in the underworld so universal?” – Rachel Somerstein
“Because it represents an unknown. Attachment to the unknown is at the foundation of religious pursuits and even promoted by institutions, states, and governments. Through the promotion of the unknown and the illusion of an answer beyond one’s reach, it’s easier to create a belief in institutional authority, security, or dependability.” - Taryn Simon
Somerstein, Rachel. “Q&A: Taryn Simon. Shots in the Dark.” Wired Feb 2011: 60.
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