What a beautiful book, what a wonderful eye! A Poor Sort of Memory by Tracy L. Chandler captures the essential strangeness of the inhabited desert in a special way, her photos telling us stories about things that happened in a private past. These are not the decisive moments of photo theory but rather the memories of them. They stir emotions in the same way visiting a historical site stir emotions. What is left behind more powerful because you view the remains through the filter of what has happened in the place. Here, Tracy Chandler’s camera captures the scene, but leaves your imagination to tell you the story.
Let’s talk about the physical book for a minute, its wonderful design and craftsmanship. Its cover is matte black cloth with bright debossed silver lettering. When you see it in the right light the words glow as if lit by an additional light, sometimes changing their colors, the name calls out to you. The spine leaves the signatures uncovered, the guts of the book exposed and becoming the substrate for the title. Clearly the cover says, this isn’t just another book. Bravo Deadbeat Club and designer Clint Woodside!
When you open it, nothing prepares you for the journey you are embarking on. There is no title page, no artists statement, nothing. A picture of the desert stares at you from thankfully matte paper. Just the picture and the white space. Turn the page and there is another. No captions, no clues for your busy little mind, just one picture after another to sink into. It continues without a word for eight or nine pages, just pictures waiting for your imagination to bring them to life. Then the photographers name, Tracy L Chandler, and the title, A Poor Sort of Memory, sitting on facing pages and then the pictures continue without another word. I don’t know about you but I’m ready to look at pictures without someone telling me what to think about them for a while.
Tracy Chandler is a native of Palm Springs. She brings her memories back to the places she grew up in, and she finds ways to make the ghosts of other times visible. This is a book to ponder slowly. There is nothing big or flashy to assault you. But if you have ever spent time in the desert absorbing the endless layers it contains you will recognize what Tracy is showing you…and I think you will like it.
Andy Romanoff
A Poor Sort of Memory – Tracy L. Chandler – Deadbeat Club Press
Hardcover – 108 pages – color – 9.5” X 11.5” – ISBN: 978-1-952523-21-2
https://deadbeatclubpress.com/products/tracy-chandler
Andy Romanoff’s book Stories I’ve Been Meaning to Tell You is available as an eBook everywhere and as a printed book here – Stories I’ve Been Meaning to Tell You
Website – https://www.andyromanoff.com/
