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Taryn Simon and The Innocents project

Florida Atlantic University, USA, davidcourtney1984{at}gmail.com

Stephen Lyng

Carthage College, USA, slyng{at}carthage.edu

The artist Taryn Simon was hired by The New York Times Magazine to photograph individuals who were wrongfully convicted, imprisoned, and subsequently freed from death row. She made images of both men and women who were exonerated by post-conviction DNA evidence. All of them were sent to prison, innocent of the crimes of which they were convicted. Most of her subjects had no criminal record. Simon's initial project eventually blossomed into a larger art exhibition that has toured several US cities in the last two years. Inspired by our viewing of Simon's exhibition and her aesthetic in constructing images of her subjects, we address one of her primary concerns: how is photography used to convict the innocent?

Key Words: appearances • art photography • mugshots • photographic seeing • political art

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Crime, Media, Culture, Vol. 3, No. 2, 175-191 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/1741659007078542


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This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Courtney, D. Articles by Lyng, S. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?