Memory Lane by Martin Salter
“To spend time with Martin Salter’s Memory Lane is to enter into a kind of meditation. It is a narrative of strangeness, of chance encounters, mysterious occurrences against the flimsy solid background of ‘ordinary’ Britain.
His photographs pose the question about ‘who we are’ and ‘where we are’, how we dwell within our urban, rural and coastal landscapes, the patterns of existence we make. Documentary photography magicks our recollections alive in a kind of visual alchemy. ‘Were we there?’ we wonder, ‘in that place at that time?’ In our memories, places shrink or grow larger, become indistinct or pencil more beautiful or more mundane; we are Alices in Wonderland as we confront the changing dimensions of the past.”
- A short extract an extract from the essay by Val Williams in Memory Lane by Martin Salter
On his daughter’s suggestion, in 2020, Salter began to post his photographs from the 1990s and 2000s on Instagram, and they immediately attracted attention. As Britain stumbled into Brexit and the Covid pandemic struck, these photographs felt immensely reassuring. They were the recent past, our past, and were easily recognizable. Nothing changes, yet everything has changed.
Inquisitive people, armed with a copy of Memory Lane may one day try to find the Shoreditch tea hut or the Snowdonia rock, or try to book a ticket to the Regent in Redcar or Seaside Special in Cromer. Some of these are long gone, yet some remain. They may get a glimpse of the Man in the Cream Suit or the woman in the green dress on a bicycle in Farnham or even see Martin Salter in the distance as he picks up his Rolleiflex and looks again at Britain, some twenty years on. Stranger things have happened.
His photographs pose the question about ‘who we are’ and ‘where we are’, how we dwell within our urban, rural and coastal landscapes, the patterns of existence we make. Documentary photography magicks our recollections alive in a kind of visual alchemy. ‘Were we there?’ we wonder, ‘in that place at that time?’ In our memories, places shrink or grow larger, become indistinct or pencil more beautiful or more mundane; we are Alices in Wonderland as we confront the changing dimensions of the past.”
- A short extract an extract from the essay by Val Williams in Memory Lane by Martin Salter
On his daughter’s suggestion, in 2020, Salter began to post his photographs from the 1990s and 2000s on Instagram, and they immediately attracted attention. As Britain stumbled into Brexit and the Covid pandemic struck, these photographs felt immensely reassuring. They were the recent past, our past, and were easily recognizable. Nothing changes, yet everything has changed.
Inquisitive people, armed with a copy of Memory Lane may one day try to find the Shoreditch tea hut or the Snowdonia rock, or try to book a ticket to the Regent in Redcar or Seaside Special in Cromer. Some of these are long gone, yet some remain. They may get a glimpse of the Man in the Cream Suit or the woman in the green dress on a bicycle in Farnham or even see Martin Salter in the distance as he picks up his Rolleiflex and looks again at Britain, some twenty years on. Stranger things have happened.
Year: 2021
Pubisher: Plague Press
Printer: Wilco Art Books, NL
Reprographics: Colour & Books, Sebastiaan Hankeroot
Printing: CMYK + varnish
Size: 270x240mm
Pages: 124
Images: 64
Paper (photo): Symbol Titami Ivory 170gsm
Paper (text): Arena Natural Rough 140gsm
Dust Jacket: Arena Rough Extra White 200gsm + Kurz clear blocking
Cover cloth: Wicotex brillianta BR4004 + Kurz white blocking
Endpapers: Wibalin Forest Green 120gsm
→ Available to purchase here
Pubisher: Plague Press
Printer: Wilco Art Books, NL
Reprographics: Colour & Books, Sebastiaan Hankeroot
Printing: CMYK + varnish
Size: 270x240mm
Pages: 124
Images: 64
Paper (photo): Symbol Titami Ivory 170gsm
Paper (text): Arena Natural Rough 140gsm
Dust Jacket: Arena Rough Extra White 200gsm + Kurz clear blocking
Cover cloth: Wicotex brillianta BR4004 + Kurz white blocking
Endpapers: Wibalin Forest Green 120gsm
→ Available to purchase here
