Taryn Simon
4 Aug
Contraband includes photographs taken 24 hours a day of over 1000 items detained or seized from passengers and express mail entering the U.S. from abroad. Over five days, in both the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Federal Inspection Site and the U.S. Postal Service International Mail Facility, Simon documented items including counterfeit American Express travelers checks, overproof Jamaican rum, heroin, a dead hawk, an illegal Mexican passport, deer penis, purses made from endangered species, Cuban cigars, counterfeit Disney DVDs, khat, gold dust, GHB concealed as house cleaner, cow manure tooth powder, counterfeit Louis Vuitton bags, prohibited sausage, undeclared jewelry, steroids and an ostrich egg. – Steidl
Reminds me of this photo from American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar.
All items in the photograph were seized from the baggage of passengers arriving in the U.S. at JFK Terminal 4 from abroad over a 48-hour period. All seized items are identified, dissected, and then either ground up or incinerated. JFK processes more international passengers than any other airport in the United States.
(via A Photo Student)
If you haven’t already seen this documentary, check out, “Kurt Cobain: About a Son,” on Netflix. It’s on instant play now and is a visual treat. If you don’t care for Kurt Cobain’s past, just turn down the volume. Still fun to watch.
Wait, what does Kurt Cobain have to do with Taryn Simon?
Oops. Forgot the link.
http://www.netflix.com/WiPlayer?movieid=70059321&trkid=809936
Taryn killed Kurt Cobain. It wasn’t suicide.
Kidding, of course. Has absolutely nothing to do with Taryn. This just happened to be the post I clicked on when I thought I’d share the film.
Double life, eh? I’m surprised there hasn’t been a case of photographer-murderer. The two go together… rather well. Maybe this is just Luc Sante’s Evidence talking… I’ve buried my head in it for the past couple of days. That’s a recommendation if we’re bartering.
Not a Nirvana fan, but maybe I’ll get around to watching it. Thanks for the thought.
Consider myself bartered. Thanks.
Photographer-murder? *shudder* http://www.theawl.com/2010/04/rodney-alcala-our-greatest-murderer-photographer
I would recommend the About a Son film even to non-fans. It’s more about a pained artist’s thoughts on life, failure and success than the anything else. And Wyatt Troll’s cinematography is very photography-grounded.
Wyatt shot a Yeah Yeah Yeahs music video too, which was based here in SF.
http://trollmotion.net/music/yyy.htm