Film for Her

Reading this was the epitome of scrolling through a tumblr page in 2012

I read this book yesterday and am quite conflicted about it. On one hand it is very well put together. The photos, the cover, the paper, even the size of the books fits together so well.

I really enjoyed flipping through this book and reading. While there were some great photos, and a few good poems, I couldn't help but feel like this was just not enough?

She is definitely a good writer. There is potential here, and sometimes there is a line or a stanza that made me go “Yes!!! That's it's!!” so it was continually disappointing to have a few high points followed by boring, dull, choppy writing.

If it wasn't for the photos and layout of the book this would have been a terrible experience to read. I didn't know that she was an influencer of any kind so I went in blind, I think that was for the better. It made some of the photos feel less Instagram esque because that wasn't my expectation of her.

I really hope that whatever she comes out with next is better. Because it can be better.

Orion Carloto???s ???Film for Her??? is a winding path through a nostalgia that does not belong to you, though maybe at the end of this book it will feel like it does. A collage, mixture of poetry, prose, and pictures, ???Film for Her??? guides us through the years of Carloto???s early adulthood, following her across the country and the world as she discovers both new places and herself, and herself in those new places. How lonely and invigorating living alone in a foreign city can be.

???I???ve sewn my eyes shut
and relived visions of you
through many passing moons???

The subject matter of the poems sways from (lost) love to (as she calls it herself) growing pains to false and new starts. Not all poems resonated with me, and I think that was partly to do with the subject matter. It didn???t always feel like it could break loose from the ???okay/good??? level to something new and burrowing. I did really feel like the different parts of her life that Carloto describes and goes through actually felt different while reading. As if she is maturing and growing not only within the narration but also as she is writing. This works very well to enhance the feeling that periods in her life come and go as you read.

???In the darkness
I can feel your heart beating
on the corners of my shoulder blades,
and I know that there???s love in there
both pure and divine.???

I think the strength of this book is really the collaboration of words and photographs that together craft a tangible nostalgic atmosphere, one that surrounded me fully as I made my way through. This made the book stand out beyond ???just??? being a book of poetry about someone???s life. The 35mm film in combination with Carloto???s sense of framing and movement as she photographs carries something magical that really radiated through the rest of the pages as well.

???I???ve poured this raddled body
into more people than I can count.
Crossing off tally marks
on the backs of necks
creating strangers
out of lovers.???

I received a free ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.