photographed by CAMILLE BIDAULT WADDINGTON text by Jeff Rian All Taryn Simon’s artworks courtesy of Gagosian Gallery Taryn Simon is a committed photographer, ambitiously exploring the most shocking, bizarre, and delirious aspects of late capitalism. Photography is definitely in her blood — her father and grandfather were both avid photographers. She has a refined sense of style, looking like an enigmatic heroine from a romantic film, and with her true New York tenacity, she’s taken pictures in places other photographer haven’t dared to tread. Taryn combines very high quality large-format photography — one having a style as throttling as that of a David Lynch highlight and as well-lit as a Philip-Lorca diCorcia picture — with writing that has the intensity of a hardcore investigative journalist’s exposé. She has produced the series The Innocents (2003), which features portraits of people convicted and sentenced for crimes they didn’t commit; An American…
Black silk blouse CHANEL and Taryn’s own high-waisted skirt and shoes
Beige trench coat A.P.C.
Sage wool cavalry twill trousers BALLY and Taryn’s own silk shirt
a. Gold-plated Iraqi Al-Kadissiya sniper rifle seized by members of the American Defense Intelligence Agency during a search of Uday Hussein’s palace in Baghdad. The inscription on the gun translated from Arabic reads: “A gift from the president of the republic, Mr. Saddam Hussein.” Saddam Hussein produced gold-plated weapons for use on ceremonial occasions and as gifts. Defense Intelligence Analysis Center, Bolling Air Force Base, Washington, D.C. / Excerpt from Chapter IV, A Living Man Declared Dead and Other Chapters