Taryn Simon and The Innocents project

Abstract

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?