Taryn Simon is a hard person to describe as a photographer. Her work is impressive to the lengths she goes in the research alone to put it together and get the shots she wants. Much of her process is about the research and letter writing to just about anyone who can help her reach her goal. Many of her projects seem to surround the idea of injustices done to people by the government, their own family members, and the things we aren't supposed to see. Out of all her work my favorite project, that inspired me to write about her, was her work called The Innocents which was based around how photography is used as tool to convict the wrong people in many cases of crimes the did not commit. All the men in her photos were tried and convicted almost solely on the use of photography in a photo line up. Many spend years in jail before being aquitted by DNA or a confession by the actual criminal. Some of the photos in series are powerful to look at with the story attached, with one photo a person's life is completely ruined and they must forever live with a stigma of having been in jail.
That's really what seems to make Taryn Simon's work, work, is the story she investigates and insures is true paired with a photo that puts an image to the facts or research.
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