Tales from Dreamland
Ed Valfre’s artful collection Tales from Dreamland signposts the “ordinary magic of the everyday” via whimsical flash fiction and eye-catching photographs.
The paragraph-length stories range from poetry to fables. In “Levitation,” Carlos floats in ecstasy due to a kiss. “Perfect Nature” wonders if a well-manicured hedge hides chaos within. Elsewhere, a crinkled skirt on a clothesline conjures up a breakup. Imagination transforms dull or seedy realities into vehicles for the fantastical: An abandoned shopping cart goes on rogue adventures, while a red chair in the middle of a sidewalk transports sitters to a dimension ruled by megalomaniac squirrels.
The photographs achieve unusual visual effects, taken through a hole in a screen door or with lenses pointed up at a broken light fitting. Shadows and reflections prove crucial. There is sharp awareness of the sky above and the ground below: the extreme low angle on a toy robot makes it loom, with dark clouds menacing behind. Sunlight filtering through blinds onto a motel bed offers a sense of home to a nomad. Puddles reflect street scenes; airplanes leave contrails overhead. Personal, heartfelt entries appear, too, as with an accidental last photograph of Valfre’s father from 1964.
A collection of fanciful stories and images, Tales from Dreamland insists that there is a “grace to the ordinary.”
Reviewed by
Rebecca Foster
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