A Photographic Memory
Arts + Literature Laboratory 111 S. Livingston St., Madison, Wisconsin 53703

Zeitgeist Films
A still image from "A Photographic Memory."
A still image from "A Photographic Memory."
The topic of Rachel Seed’s new documentary, A Photographic Memory, should pull audiences right in. Seed discovers the work left behind by her mother, the photographer and journalist Sheila Turner-Seed, who died when she was just a baby. She launches into investigating that treasure trove, learning who her mother was, as she creates a conversation between the two with this, her own work. It’s not just a memoir; it’s a lyrical recreation of a lost time. The film won the Truer Than Fiction Award at the 2025 Film Independent Spirit Awards. Filmmaker Rachel Seed will be present for the screening and a Q & A session.
media release: Arts + Literature Laboratory and FlakPhoto present the documentary A Photographic Memory with director Rachel Seed in person on Monday, June 23, at 7:00pm. Free admission, donations appreciated.
A Photographic Memory | Rachel Seed | USA | 2024 | 85 minutes
Winner of the Truer Than Fiction Award at the 2025 Film Independent Spirit Awards and a New York Times Critic’s Pick, A Photographic Memory is an intimate, genre-bending portrait of the filmmaker’s trailblazing mother, Sheila Turner Seed – a vibrant and pioneering journalist, photographer, and filmmaker, who died suddenly and tragically when Rachel was just 18 months old. Uncovering the vast archive Turner Seed produced, including lost interviews with iconic photographers Henri Cartier-Bresson, Bruce Davidson, Cecil Beaton, Lisette Model, and Gordon Parks, and others, Rachel attempts to build a posthumous relationship with her mother through her interviews, photographs, journals, films, and the stories of those who remember her. The result is an unlikely mother-daughter conversation that evades time and space, exploring universal themes of memory, loss, and legacy. (Zeitgiest Films)
Director Rachel Seed will be present and will hold a Q&A session after the screening. Special thanks to Andy Adams at FlakPhoto for making this screening possible. Film running time is 85 minutes.