U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION, CONTRABAND ROOM, JOHN F. KENNEDY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, QUEENS, NEW YORK, 2007

AFRICAN CANE RATS INFESTED WITH MAGGOTS, AFRICAN YAMS (DIOSCOREA), ANDEAN POTATOES, BANGLADESHI CUCURBIT PLANTS, BUSH MEAT, CHERIMOYA FRUIT, CURRY LEAVES (MURRAYA), DRIED ORANGE PEELS, FRESH EGGS, GIANT AFRICAN SNAIL, IMPALA SKULL CAP, JACKFRUIT SEEDS, JUNE PLUM, KOLA NUTS, MANGO, OKRA, PASSION FRUIT, PIG NOSE, PIG MOUTHS, PORK, RAW POULTRY (CHICKEN), SOUTH AMERICAN PIG HEAD, SOUTH AMERICAN TREE TOMATOES, SOUTH ASIAN LIME INFECTED WITH CITRUS CANKER, SUGAR CANE (POACEAE), UNCOOKED MEATS, UNIDENTIFIED SUB TROPICAL PLANT IN SOIL.

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.

© TARYN SIMON / COURTESY GAGOSIAN GALLERY / STEIDL

CRYOPRESERVATION UNIT, CRYONICS INSTITUTE, CLINTON TOWNSHIP, MICHIGAN, 2007

THIS CRYOPRESERVATION UNIT HOLDS THE BODIES OF RHEA AND ELAINE ETTINGER, THE MOTHER AND FIRST WIFE OF CRYONICS PIONEER, ROBERT ETTINGER. ROBERT, AUTHOR OF THE PROSPECT OF IMMORTALITY AND MAN INTO SUPERMAN IS STILL ALIVE.

THE CRYONICS INSTITUTE OFFERS CRYOSTASIS (FREEZING) SERVICES FOR INDIVIDUALS AND PETS UPON DEATH. CRYOSTASIS IS PRACTICED WITH THE HOPE THAT LIVES WILL ULTIMATELY BE EXTENDED THROUGH FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS IN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND MEDICINE. WHEN, AND IF, THESE DEVELOPMENTS OCCUR, INSTITUTE MEMBERS HOPE TO AWAKE TO AN EXTENDED LIFE IN GOOD HEALTH, FREE FROM DISEASE OR THE AGING PROCESS. CRYOSTASIS MUST BEGIN IMMEDIATELY UPON LEGAL DEATH. A PERSON OR PET IS INFUSED WITH ICE-PREVENTIVE SUBSTANCES AND QUICKLY COOLED TO A TEMPERATURE WHERE PHYSICAL DECAY VIRTUALLY STOPS. THE CRYONICS INSTITUTE CHARGES ,000 FOR CRYOSTASIS IF IT IS PLANNED WELL IN ADVANCE OF LEGAL DEATH AND ,000 ON SHORTER NOTICE.

© TARYN SIMON / COURTESY GAGOSIAN GALLERY / STEIDL

NUCLEAR WASTE ENCAPSULATION AND STORAGE FACILITY, CHERENKOV RADIATION, HANFORD SITE, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY, SOUTHEASTERN WASHINGTON STATE, 2007

SUBMERGED IN A POOL OF WATER AT HANFORD SITE ARE 1,936 STAINLESS-STEEL NUCLEAR-WASTE CAPSULES CONTAINING CESIUM AND STRONTIUM. COMBINED, THEY CONTAIN OVER 120 MILLION CURIES OF RADIOACTIVITY. IT IS ESTIMATED TO BE THE MOST CURIES UNDER ONE ROOF IN THE UNITED STATES. THE BLUE GLOW IS CREATED BY THE CHERENKOV EFFECT WHICH DESCRIBES THE ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION EMITTED WHEN A CHARGED PARTICLE, GIVING OFF ENERGY, MOVES FASTER THAN LIGHT THROUGH A TRANSPARENT MEDIUM. THE TEMPERATURES OF THE CAPSULES ARE AS HIGH AS 330 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT. THE POOL OF WATER SERVES AS A SHIELD AGAINST RADIATION; A HUMAN STANDING ONE FOOT FROM AN UNSHIELDED CAPSULE WOULD RECEIVE A LETHAL DOSE OF RADIATION IN LESS THAN 10 SECONDS. HANFORD IS AMONG THE MOST CONTAMINATED SITES IN THE UNITED STATES.
© TARYN SIMON / COURTESY GAGOSIAN GALLERY / STEIDL

PLAYBOY, BRAILLE EDITION, PLAYBOY ENTERPRISES, INC. NEW YORK, NEW YORK, 2007

THE NATIONAL LIBRARY SERVICE FOR THE BLIND AND PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED (NLS), A DIVISION OF THE U.S. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, PROVIDES A FREE NATIONAL LIBRARY PROGRAM OF BRAILLE AND RECORDED MATERIALS FOR BLIND AND PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED PERSONS. MAGAZINES INCLUDED IN THE NLS'S PROGRAMS ARE SELECTED ON THE BASIS OF DEMONSTRATED READER INTEREST. THIS INCLUDES THE PUBLISHING AND DISTRIBUTION OF A BRAILLE EDITION OF PLAYBOY.
APPROXIMATELY 10 MILLION AMERICAN ADULTS READ PLAYBOY EVERY MONTH, WITH 3 MILLION OBTAINING IT THROUGH PAID CIRCULATION. IT HAS INCLUDED ARTICLES BY WRITERS SUCH AS NORMAN MAILER, VLADIMIR NABOKOV, PHILIP ROTH, JOYCE CAROL OATES, AND KURT VONNEGUT AND CONDUCTED INTERVIEWS WITH SALVADOR DALI, JEAN-PAUL SARTRE, AND MALCOLM X.
© TARYN SIMON / COURTESY GAGOSIAN GALLERY / STEIDL

WHITE TIGER (KENNY), SELECTIVE INBREEDING,TURPENTINE CREEK WILDLIFE REFUGE AND FOUNDATION, EUREKA SPRINGS, ARKANSAS, 2007

IN THE UNITED STATES, ALL LIVING WHITE TIGERS ARE THE RESULT OF SELECTIVE INBREEDING TO ARTIFICIALLY CREATE THE GENETIC CONDITIONS THAT LEAD TO WHITE FUR, ICE-BLUE EYES AND A PINK NOSE. KENNY WAS BORN TO A BREEDER IN BENTONVILLE, ARKANSAS ON FEBRUARY 3, 1999. AS A RESULT OF INBREEDING, KENNY IS MENTALLY RETARDED AND HAS SIGNIFICANT PHYSICAL LIMITATIONS. DUE TO HIS DEEP-SET NOSE, HE HAS DIFFICULTY BREATHING AND CLOSING HIS JAW, HIS TEETH ARE SEVERELY MALFORMED AND HE LIMPS FROM ABNORMAL BONE STRUCTURE IN HIS FOREARMS. THE THREE OTHER TIGERS IN KENNY'S LITTER ARE NOT CONSIDERED TO BE QUALITY WHITE TIGERS AS THEY ARE YELLOW-COATED, CROSS-EYED, AND KNOCK-KNEED.
© TARYN SIMON / COURTESY GAGOSIAN GALLERY / STEIDL

CHARLES IRVIN FAIN. SCENE OF THE CRIME, THE SNAKE RIVER, MELBA, IDAHO, SERVED 18 YEARS OF A DEATH SENTENCE FOR KIDNAPPING, RAPE AND MURDER, 2003

IN 1982, A YOUNG GIRL WAS ABDUCTED WHILE WALKING TO SCHOOL IN NAMPA, IDAHO. HER BODY WAS FOUND DAYS LATER IN A DITCH NEAR THE SNAKE RIVER. POLICE FOCUSED THEIR INVESTIGATION ON CHARLES FAIN, WHO WAS NEW TO THE AREA. MANY MEN, INCLUDING FAIN, WERE ASKED TO PROVIDE HAIR SAMPLES TO BE TESTED AGAINST HAIRS FOUND ON THE VICTIM. BASED ON HAIR COMPARISONS PERFORMED BY THE FBI, FAIN WAS CONVICTED OF KIDNAPPING, RAPE, AND MURDER, AND SENTENCED TO DEATH IN 1983. PROSECUTORS ALSO RELIED ON TESTIMONY FROM TWO JAILHOUSE SNITCHES WHO CLAIMED THAT FAIN HAD CONFESSED AND PROVIDED DETAILED INFORMATION ABOUT THE CRIME. FAIN MAINTAINED HIS INNOCENCE, CLAIMING HE WAS AT HIS FATHER'S HOUSE IN OREGON ON THE DAY OF THE CRIME. EIGHTEEN YEARS LATER, FAIN SECURED ACCESS TO THE EVIDENCE, AND THE HAIRS WERE SUBJECTED TO MITOCHONDRIAL DNA TESTING. HE WAS EXCLUDED AS THE CONTRIBUTOR OF THE HAIRS, AND THE COURT ORDERED HIS RELEASE IN AUGUST 2001. FAIN BECAME THE ELEVENTH PERSON FREED FROM DEATH ROW DUE TO POSTCONVICTION DNA TESTING.

"THEY TOOK ME BACK TO A ROOM. LIEUTENANT PATRICK WAS THERE AND HE HAD A DEATH WARRANT. HE READ IT, CRACKED A FEW JOKES, AND THAT WAS ABOUT IT...THEY HAD TO GIVE US A COPY OF THE PROCEDURE. WE READ IT TO SEE HOW IT WENT. THEY STRAP YOU ON THE GURNEY. THE SPIRITUAL ADVISOR LEAVES. THEN THEY PUT THE NEEDLES IN AND WALK BEHIND THIS THING AND START PUSHING SOME BUTTONS. WOULDN'T TAKE MORE THAN ABOUT FOUR MINUTES" - CHARLES IRVIN FAIN
©  TARYN SIMON / COURTESY GAGOSIAN GALLERY

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