Martha Cooper: The Unlikely Hero of Street Art

Learn about Martha Cooper, a street art photographer, photojournalist, and much more.
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Martha Cooper is an iconic American photojournalist and the unlikely hero of street artists across the globe. She documented New York's underground graffiti scene in the 1970s, at a time when street art was looked down upon as being immoral and lacking in artistic merit.
But Martha instead fell in love with the scene and in 1984 published her photos in Subway Art. After a failed launch, the book has gone on to be one of the most sold, and stolen, art books of all time. It also influenced a generation of street artists, including OSGEMEOS.

Selina Miles is the Australian director of the new feature documentary 'Martha: A Picture Story,' which follows the life and work of Martha Cooper. Selina shares what she's learned about Martha's life, her global reputation, and what parts of her life the film documents.
We also talk about how Selina and Martha met, how Selina came up with the idea for the documentary, and what her thoughts are on the value of street art.

“Martha’s now in her 70s, still traveling the world documenting street art in places like Mongolia and Tahiti.” - Selina Miles

Time Stamps:
00:00 - Guest introduction.
00:16 - The trailer for 'Martha: A Picture Story.'
03:15 - Where the film is available to stream.
04:35 - Who Martha Cooper is and what she is known for.
06:04 - What her book Subway Art is about.
07:19 - Why her work didn’t receive much attention at the time.
09:39 - The impact the book had on street artists.
13:26 - How Martha found her style of artwork.
15:06 - The perspective that Martha brought to the breakdance scene.
18:46 - Why Martha found it hard to find her place in the world of photography.
22:15 - How Selina met Martha in Tahiti.
25:01 - How she persuaded Martha to make a feature documentary.
27:47 - How the documentary captures the evolution of photography.
30:03 - Martha's views on street art.
32:41 - How her early life informed her artistic vision.
33:55 - The value of photography these days.
36:10 - The type of recognition Martha is now receiving for her work.

Resources:
Martha: A Picture Story: https://m.imdb.com/title/tt10011402/
Subway Art: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/157630.Subway_Art
Henry Chalfont: https://www.henrychalfant.com/

Connect with Selina Miles:
Website: http://www.selinamiles.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/selinamiles/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/selinamilesfilms/

More From Factual America:
Billie Eilish: A Portrait of the Artist: https://www.alamopictures.co.uk/podcast/billie-eilish/
Air Jordan: A Cultural Phenomenon: https://www.alamopictures.co.uk/podcast/air-jordan/
Uprooted: American History through Jazz Dance: https://www.alamopictures.co.uk/podcast/uprooted-jazz-dance/
Becoming Rocky: How Sylvester Stalone Became a Star: https://www.alamopictures.co.uk/podcast/becoming-rocky-sylvester-stallone/

Connect with Matthew Sherwood:
Facebook: http://facebook.com/matthew.sherwood.14
LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/matthewsherwood/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/sherwood1967

#marthacooper #streetart #streetartist

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Factual America explores the themes that make America unique through the lens of documentaries about America. Each episode a guest chooses a film and then discusses it with host, Matthew Sherwood. Guests include leading documentary filmmakers as well as experts on the American experience.

Matthew Sherwood was born and raised in Texas. He came to the UK in 2001 to work for The Economist. Matthew has worked in journalism and publishing and has a wealth of experience writing for publications, interviewing world leaders, and chairing conferences. Formally he spent his time helping diverse audiences understand the global trends impacting upon their lives.

Emmett Glynn is the producer of Factual America. Known to many in the broadcast world, Emmett is a London-based sound designer and producer who has delivered over 100hrs of TV documentaries for Channel 5, Channel 4 and the BBC. He produces three other podcasts and is developing documentaries alongside Alamo Pictures.

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Видео Martha Cooper: The Unlikely Hero of Street Art канала Factual America Podcast