Tracy L Chandler: A Poor Sort of Memory
© Tracy L Chandler, courtesy of Deadbeat Club
A Poor Sort of Memory
by Tracy L Chandler
In A Poor Sort of Memory, Tracy L Chandler returns to her hometown in the California desert, weaving a poignant narrative of personal history and unresolved emotions. Her photographs reflect a duality: the stark beauty of the desert landscape juxtaposed with the emotional claustrophobia of her memories. These barren yet striking spaces once served as a refuge during her youth, a place where she sought independence amidst the turmoil of her family life. Revisiting them years later, Chandler grapples with the challenge of separating the reality of the present from the haunting truths of her past.
© Tracy L Chandler, courtesy of Deadbeat Club
The images are suffused with ambiguity, embracing the perspective of an unreliable narrator. As Chandler captures the remnants of her history, she allows memory and imagination to intermingle, crafting a new photographic fiction. Her work resists clarity, reflecting her own questioning: “Do I believe that making photographs will bring back some sort of truth? My experience is the opposite.” Each photograph becomes a meditation on time, place, and the tenuous boundaries of memory, echoing the White Queen’s words to Alice: “It’s a poor sort of memory that only works backwards.”
© Tracy L Chandler, courtesy of Deadbeat Club
An accomplished photographic artist based in Los Angeles, Chandler’s work has been internationally recognised, including awards such as the Mary Frey Book Grant and a shortlisting for the Luma Book Award. A Poor Sort of Memory is not merely a photographic exploration but a deeply personal and universal reflection on the ways we reconstruct the past, finding meaning in both its serenity and its shadows.
© Tracy L Chandler, courtesy of Deadbeat Club
A Poor Sort of Memory
Tracy L Chandler
Deadbeat Club, 2024
Hardcover, 108 pages
9.5” x 11.5”
ISBN: 978-1-952523-21-2
RRP £53