Taryn Simon

on conceptual photography

Taryn Simon

interview by LOUISE NERI
portrait by MARK SELIGER
hair by GAVIN HARWIN at The Wall Group using Oribe
make-up by ALICE LANE at The Wall Group using NARS
All artworks copyright Taryn Simon and courtesy of Gagosian Gallery

 

LOUISE NERI — You’re a storyteller whose investigative drive is matched by  an obsessive attention to aesthetic detail, where research is put at the service of image-making. How has your artistic method and conceptual investigation evolved?

TARYN SIMON — There are always oppositional impulses in my work. It is  prompted by reality, but doesn’t cleave to it. There are many degrees of filtering and refinement as a new work evolves.

LOUISE NERI — Can you discuss the heuristic nature of your process? You trawl a huge amount of information on a constant basis. In the course of …