{"product_id":"9783775735063","title":"Taryn Simon: An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar","description":"\u003cp\u003eFirst published in 2008, and now commanding high prices second-hand, Taryn Simon’s \u003ci\u003eAn American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar\u003c\/i\u003e reveals objects, sites and spaces that are integral to America’s foundation, mythology or daily functioning, but which remain inaccessible or unknown to a public audience. To make the more than 60 large-format photographs often required protracted negotiations before Simon was granted access to the sites. When circumstances permitted, she photographed with a large-format camera and careful lighting, emphatically \u003ci\u003enot\u003c\/i\u003e following the tradition of the journalistic snapshot. The photographs include radioactive containers in a storage facility for nuclear waste; the recreational facility of a high-security prison; the headquarters of the Ku Klux Klan with its Wizards, Night Hawks and Kleagles; a Scientology seminar room; MOUT, a facade city in Kentucky built as a training ground for urban warfare; the sealed-off halls of the CIA headquarters; a high-security research institute studying animal epidemics; and an operating room in which a Palestinian woman had her hymen (and thus her virginity) restored. Each image is accompanied by a brief text written by the artist, that precisely explains what is seen and why it is hidden or off-limits. Although \u003ci\u003eAn American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar\u003c\/i\u003e forces us to confront the darker side of democratic society, it also conveys the fascination that attends the exploration of forbidden territories.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTaryn Simon\u003c\/b\u003e was born in New York in 1975. She has produced several books of photography and writing, including \u003ci\u003eContraband\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Innocents\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eA Living Man Declared Dead and Other Chapters\u003c\/i\u003e. Other subjects documented by Simon include feuding families in Brazil, victims of genocide in Bosnia and the body double of Saddam Hussein’s son Uday.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Hatje Cantz Verlag GmbH \u0026 Co KG","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47048934621424,"sku":"9783775735063","price":85.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9783775735063_p0.jpg?v=1763683231","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9783775735063","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}