A survey of personal memories taken in Mesa, Arizona and the surrounding areas by Los Angeles-based photographer and director Chris McPherson. Despite a career spanning two highly successful decades, McPherson found himself taking a step back in the fall of 2017. Avoiding commercial work, which he realized had become a way of distracting himself from facing his inner dissatisfaction, McPherson spent the next year examining the deeper issues behind his feelings of disconnection and lack of inspiration:

“One day, a friend asked me how I was doing. Like an unconscious reflex, I responded ‘Oh, you know… peaks and valleys.’ As soon as those words slipped out, a thought immediately followed. ‘Actually no. More like mesas and valleys. Not a lot of peaks right now.’ That instant was the inception of this project. Not only did I have the desire to take pictures again, but this became a therapeutic way for me to trace my earliest childhood memories, in search of the trauma that had been plaguing me ever since. In the ‘Valley of the Sun’. Mesa, Arizona. My hometown.”

Chris McPherson participated in our 2024 Art + Photo Book Awards and made our shortlist. Click here to learn more about upcoming open call opportunities!⁠