Taryn Simon

Taryn Simon's work 'The American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar' sets up interesting juxtapositions between the image and its text. Simon photographs American spaces or subjects that are usually off limits to the general public, such as government research and defence establishments, cryogenic research labs, and vials of AIDS virus.

Simon explains that the detailed text anchors her images and create an "invisible space between text and its accompanying image". The artist goes on to say that photographs appear to show objective reality but there are a number of versions of reality; namely, the photographer's intent, interpretation of the viewer, and context. It is in these 'invisible spaces' between image and text that multiple versions of reality can arise.

Photography is often used to assert a point of view, claiming that a photograph is 'objective proof' to back up an argument. Thinking about hegemonic control and representation of any society from a broader perspective than just photography, I'm reminded by a quote on American capitalist consumer society by Jean Baudrillard:

Disneyland is presented as imaginary in order to make us believe that the rest [America] is real.

I find this a very intriguing concept. A sort of misdirection in play in order to pacify or deceive a population. Interestingly Taryn Simon was rejected by Disneyworld from making work there - as they wanted to preserve the fantasy for guests during troubled times. The notion that one 'thing' is represented as fantasy to hide the fact that another 'thing' (American consumer society, the American dream, democracy - call it what you will) is just a similar illusion is very thought provoking.

These ideas parallel with the science fiction movie The Matrix. In the film the main character is persuaded to take a pill in order for his mind to be unlocked from a vast fantasy (the everyday world). This illusion of reality is being fed to him via tubes directly into his brain from an embryonic gunk filled bubble in which he is kept unconscious as his energy is harvested by robots. When he awakes he sees the world for what it is and has an existential crisis with guns blazing in true Hollywood style. As enjoyable as the film is, its core message is not about robots and spacecraft and men in cool leather coats and sunglasses. The underlying message is to wake up and critically analyse the world around us; question the representations that are publicly made as fact or truth about the world on our behalf; and to ask ourselves who are making these statements and why?

I digress. To get back to Simon's other work "The Innocents" she photographs men that have been found guilty of violent crimes they did not commit. In these cases photographs were used for identification purposes by police. When the victim was unsure but saw similarities in an image, photographs were used again and again to direct the victim until eventually the images replaced the victim's own unreliable memory.

Simon says about the work that "photography had been used to create a fantasy  - contradicting its function as evidence of a truth. It furthered the fabrication of a lie."

Truth and reality is a slippery thing. Our memories are at best unreliable and self-deceiving. Photography both reinforces the lie and exposes it at the same time.