Sidmouth Herald articleHistoric England Donation
Sidmouth Herald article
Graham Donates photos to English Heritage
Folk art archive keeps history alive
A SIDMOUTH resident is helping to keep Britain's history alive after donating more than 4,000 photos of folk art to the English Heritage Archive. Graham Cooper's unique collection of slides features images of wall paintings and many other kinds of urban folk art, most of which were
taken in the late 1970s.
The photographs cover a period from 1975 to 2003 An Urban art collection - and many of the fatling billboards, shopfronts and pub facades no longer exist or are at risk.
The slide collection was assembled with Doug Sargent, a photographer friend from Lancashire, when Graham was at the Royal College of Art in South Kensington. The pair journeyed several thousands of miles across the UK before mounting the 'Painting the Town' exhibition in 1977, which was
toured extensively by both the Arts Council and the British Council.
Graham has another collection of European and Japanese images that he is looking for a similar archive to home.
The English Heritage Archive contains more than 12 million items of national importance,
Images From Graham Cooper's urban art collection –
Swindon's Railway Village.
Graham Cooper handing over the slide collection to English Heritage Archivist Ian Leith.
Birmingham's Bull Ring Centre
Sidmouth Herald 11 July 2014