A Photographic Memory

How well can we know someone through the things they leave behind? Director Rachel Elizabeth Seed was only 18 months old when her mother, the world-travelling journalist Sheila Turner-Seed, died suddenly. Thirty years later, after she discovers more than 50 hours of audio interviews conducted by her mother, Seed hears her mother’s voice for the first time. Through a wealth of audio recordings, photographs and films, the filmmaker sets out to connect with her late mother while at the same time unveiling an invaluable archive of conversations with some of the most renowned photographers of the 20th century, among them Cornell Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Bruce Davidson, Lisette Model, Gordon Parks, W. Eugene Smith and Roman Vishniac. This loving and elegantly crafted story of a daughter seeking to connect with her lost mother is also an unexpected exploration of the legacy and art of photography, and of mortality, loss and memory.