A new book, by photographer
Tracy L Chandler, explores the memory she has of, and trauma she associates with, growing up.
A Poor Sort of Memory, published by
Deadbeat Club, is Chandler’s debut monograph, and is a collection of serene, eerie, and minimalist landscapes.
Chandler decided to revisit and photograph her Californian desert hometown, particularly locations she remembers escaping to as a youth - places she found solace in from the morbid chaos of her family home.
As a result, her images emanate unshakeable feelings of claustrophobia and alienation, and are haunted by ghosts, memories, and emotions of yesteryear.
Tracy L Chandler said:
“As I revisited old hideouts in concrete washes and private bunks in rock formations, I was reminded of a past laden with trauma and my desperation to find both a sense of belonging and an independent self.”
As she re-navigated her hometown, Chandler reconciled the objective reality before her with the subjective truths of her own memories.
But rather than shy away from this ambiguity, Chandler embraced her role of unreliable narrator, and used the remnants of her history to craft a new photographic fiction.
Tracy L Chandler added:
“I found myself chasing ghosts and evading monsters, and I struggled to parse memory from fantasy and reflection from projection.
“Do I believe that making photographs will bring back some sort of truth? My experience is the opposite.”
Chandler’s work dives further down the rabbit hole of memory, and evokes the White Queen’s words in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland … ‘ It’s a poor sort of memory that only works backwards.’
![Tracy L Chandler](https://www.all-about-photo.com/images/articles/ART-1612-4.webp)
A Poor Sort of Memory © Tracy L Chandler
![Tracy L Chandler](https://www.all-about-photo.com/images/articles/ART-1612-2.webp)
A Poor Sort of Memory © Tracy L Chandler
![Tracy L Chandler](https://www.all-about-photo.com/images/articles/ART-1612-6.webp)
A Poor Sort of Memory © Tracy L Chandler
Tracy L Chandler
Tracy L Chandler is a photographic artist based in Los Angeles, CA. Her work explores humanity and her own personal story reflected through portraiture, landscape, and narrative. Her photographs address themes of time, place, memory, seeing, and being seen.
In 2023, she had a solo exhibition at Gallery 169 in Santa Monica as well as screened a short film of her project A Poor Sort of Memory at the Arles Rencontres photography festival in France. Tracy has participated in multiple group exhibitions including The Oregon Contemporary, The Museum of Warsaw, Baxter St Gallery, These Days Gallery, Candela Gallery, and The Humid. Her work has garnered many recognitions including scholarships and awards from the Hopper Prize Foundation, Lucie Foundation, Critical Mass, PH Museum, Arles Book Awards, Charcoal Book Club, Urbanautica Institute, and Los Angeles Center of Photography. Her work have been featured in publications including Fotofilmic, California Sun, and the Humble Arts Foundation.
www.tracylchandler.com
@tracylchandler
![Tracy L Chandler](https://www.all-about-photo.com/images/articles/ART-1612-3.webp)
A Poor Sort of Memory © Tracy L Chandler
![Tracy L Chandler](https://www.all-about-photo.com/images/articles/ART-1612-5.webp)
A Poor Sort of Memory © Tracy L Chandler
![Tracy L Chandler](https://www.all-about-photo.com/images/articles/ART-1612-7.webp)
A Poor Sort of Memory © Tracy L Chandler