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Taryn Simon’s Secret Photographs @ TED

An American Index of the Hidden and the Unfamiliar

With a large-format camera and a knack for talking her way into forbidden zones, Taryn Simon photographs portions of the American infrastructure inaccessible to its inhabitants. In this video [17:32], she reveals 70 images of worlds and people we would never see otherwise: otherworldly locations typically kept secret from the public, and haunting portraits of men convicted for crimes they did not commit.

Editor’s note: Some of the pictures and text are of a sensitive nature, so discretion is advised.

In the case of the men who were convicted for crimes they did not commit, she raises awareness of the limitations of relying on photographs in the identification of criminals. Moral: “Our eyes are easily deceived.