Photography, Truth and Constructed Narrative

My last post focused on the works of Rebecca Belmore, while one of my first posts was on Lily Yeh Both artists recognize the the power of art to create the foundations toward social change. Social change can begin merely by the simple awareness of oppression, prejudices, barriers and hierarchies. Raising our consciouness is the beginning and the hope is that once we are more cognizant of the need for change, we will be moved to action. Taryn Simon, provides another example in the ways in which women are acting as activists advocating for social change of many kinds. She brings into question if what we see, what we are told is real and, if it isn't real, if it is constructed or a fabrication, then what do we do?

An American photographer, she has exhibited at the Tate Modern in London, at the Venice Biennale and at the Museum of Modern Art in New York to name a few. Through her images and narratives, she awakens our curiosity about what is real in photography and narrative; what is fact and what is constructed fiction. In the following TED talk she shares two projects: one documents otherworldly locations typically kept secret from the public, the other involves haunting portraits of men convicted for crimes they did not commit.