Taryn Simon TED talk

Yup, this is an old TED talk, but I thought I’d post because Taryn Simon is one of my very favorite photographers. I adore her work so much I’d even intern for her (well, almost). Her books An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar and The Innocents are both worth picking up. Here’s one of her quotes referencing The Innocents that applies to almost any photographic work.

Photography’s ability to blur truth and fiction is one of its most compelling qualities. But when misused as part of a prosecutor’s arsenal, this ambiguity can have severe, even lethal consequences. Photographs in the criminal justice system, and elsewhere, can turn fiction into fact. As I got to know the men and women in this book, I saw that photography’s ambiguity, beautiful in one context, can be devastating in another.