Image Credit: Zeitgeist Films in association with Kino Lorber

Vague Visages’ A Photographic Memory review contains minor spoilers. Rachel Elizabeth Seed’s 2024 documentary features Sheila Turner-Seed, Henri Cartier-Bresson and Bruce Davidson. Check out the VV home page for more film criticism, movie reviews and film essays.

A Photographic Memory, a moving audiovisual poem and spiritual puzzle, offers dual and shifting perspectives about fate and free will. On one level, filmmaker Rachel Elizabeth Seed hopes to better understand her late mother, Sheila Turner-Seed, an accomplished writer and photographer who passed away from a cerebral hemorrhage in 1979, at age 42, when her daughter was just 18 months old. In each surprising act, the documentarian listens to her mother’s recorded interviews with legendary photographers like Henri Cartier-Bresson, Bruce Davidson and Lisette Model (the source material for the groundbreaking 70s series “Images of Man”), all of whom speak glowingly about the elder Seed and her unique ability to prompt genuine reactions from her subjects. But on a deeper level, A Photographic Memory peaks when the director turns the camera on herself, slowly realizing how lost time with her mother affected her story as a woman, photographer and fellow traveler.

“As far back as I can remember, there were cameras,” Rachel says early on in A Photographic Memory — an apparent homage to the opening line of Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas (1990) and a telling anecdote about her upbringing. The director pairs her inquisitive narration with extraordinary editing (via Will Garofalo, Tyler Hubby, Eileen Meyer, Christopher Stoudt and Christopher White) to create a hauntingly hypnotic effect, in which she first analyzes her mother’s work and personality before introducing a faux conversation between parent and daughter about creative motivations. Rachel also learns about Sheila’s effect on admiring men, her “insatiable desire” to travel and a near-marriage to a “good Jewish boy,” all of which complements the director’s underlying themes about lost time and missed opportunities, evidenced in part by Gabriel Edmont’s heartbreaking on-camera reflections about his romantic relationship with Sheila that led to an abortion, and the fact that he never had children. And so it’s not hard to understand why Rachel’s procedural investigation prompted her to play with memories and time while addressing familial and existential questions.

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Smooth as A Photographic Memory’s editing may be, a few moments do indeed feel contrived for the sake of slick storytelling. First, a phone call conversation appears to be staged during the first act, as Rachel seemingly recites a script instead of speaking naturally, with the implication being that the call was designed in post-production. Later, a middle-act sequence about Sheila’s 1972 lifestyle builds to a meeting with the legendary Black photographer Gordon Parks, though attentive viewers will immediately recognize that the interview actually transpired in 1969. In a documentary about memory and time, this isn’t a huge deal or even an obvious filmmaking flaw, and Rachel does indeed set up a significant reveal about her mother’s experiences with Parks in the 1972 timeline, but the continuity issue raises questions about the narrative context and how much the director actually knew about her mother before production commenced on the documentary. Rachel’s father, Time Life photographer Brian Seed, speaks emotionally about his late wife in A Photographic Memory, yet his daughter, the film’s director, suggests that he spoke very little of Sheila over the years (which may indeed be true, due to long-term grief). However, viewers may wonder why two photographers, bonded by blood, wouldn’t converse in depth about their genetic link (who was also a photographer and fellow creative spirit). Again, a little mystery is just fine, but the lack of historic clarity in A Photographic Memory — at least in regard to Rachel and her father — disrupts the overall flow, as it’s unclear why the director would know almost nothing about her mother’s personality and professional accomplishments.

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A Photographic Memory’s rock star interview lineup speaks volumes about Sheila Turner-Seed’s legacy and cultural impact. And, of course, Rachel’s investigative journey only adds to her mother’s relevancy in the world of photography. The film itself succeeds on multiple levels, especially in terms identifying’s the subject’s perspective as a woman in a male-dominated industry, and her daughter’s path towards clarity/healing. Some minor continuity issues in A Photographic Memory point to the first-time director’s lack of experience, yet they oddly work in favor of the established mood and tone via the (mostly) outstanding editing.

A Photographic Memory will have a limited theatrical release via Zeitgeist Films in association with Kino Lorber at the Culture Vulture Series at Laemmle Theatres throughout the Los Angeles area (June 14-16) and the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago (June 20-26). The documentary will also screen in New York City at New Plaza Cinema (June 27-29) and DOC NYC Selects at IFC Center (June 30). Rachel Elizabeth Seed will be in attendance for Q&As at select screenings moderated by special guests to be announced. A national rollout of the film continues throughout the summer.

Q.V. Hough (@QVHough) is Vague Visages’ founding editor. Thank you for reading film criticism, movie reviews and film essays at Vague Visages.

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