June 17 through July 30
Simon’s earliest body of work, The Innocents (2002), documents the stories of individuals who served time in prison for violent crimes they did not commit. At issue is the question of photography’s function as a credible eyewitness and arbiter of justice. The primary cause of wrongful conviction is mistaken identification. Simon photographed these men at sites that had particular significance to their illegitimate conviction: the scene of misidentification, the scene of arrest, the scene of the crime, or the scene of the alibi. All of these locations hold contradictory meanings for the subjects. The scene of arrest marks the starting point of a reality based in fiction. The scene of the crime is at once arbitrary and crucial: this place, to which they have never been, changed their lives forever. Sponsored in part by William L. Bernhard, Dorothy Lichtenstein, Joan and Lucio Noto, and Toni Ross. Museum Hours: Monday, Friday & Saturday 11am-5pm & Sunday noon-5pm. The Museum at Guild Hall, 158 Main Street, East Hampton, New York 11937, 631.324.0806, GuildHall.org