Playboy, Braille Edition, Playboy enterprises, Inc. New York

Trained in photo-journalism, Taryn Simon engages in a politically committed documentary photography. These three images come from An American Index of the Hidden and the Unfamiliar, produced between 2004 and 2006. The series represents an inventory of things hidden and difficult of access yet emblematic of American society – virgin forest, a nuclear waste storage facility, a high-security prison, CIA offices ¬– thus revealing and interrogating aspects of the American myth. The photographs are accompanied by texts by the artist, telling of her investigations and outlining their critical import.