Project Detail

Edge is Everything

Contact sheet showing a photographer with a large format camera

Synopsis

Edge is Everything is a love letter to photography and to the art of truly seeing. For over 30 years, Thomas Joshua Cooper has photographed the furthest edges of land with a 19th century camera. His work bears witness to landscapes transformed by climate change while recovering forgotten histories of migration, exploration and departure.
Cooper draws on his Native American heritage and an extraordinary archive of audio interviews he recorded in the 1970s with photography’s most influential figures, including Ansel Adams, Man Ray, Imogen Cunningham and Paul Strand. These previously unheard tapes create a rare intergenerational conversation about photography and artistic practice.
The film also examines the cost of an uncompromising creative life. His wife and adult daughter reveal the impact of his prolonged absences and challenge the mythology of the solitary artist.
At a time defined by speed, distraction and instant images, Edge is Everything asks what might happen if we slowed down long enough to fully observe. This question has guided Cooper since childhood, when he was taught by his Native American elders: “Each of us has an eye that sees and a seeing eye. When you learn which is which, you will have begun to become human.”

Details

Year
2026
Type of project
Features
Running time
80 min
Format
4K
Director
Marisa Privitera Murdoch 1st Feature
Producer
Marisa Privitera Murdoch, Lauren Lamarr
Executive Producer
John Archer - Hopscotch Films, Joanna Clements - Blazing Griffin Pictures, Mark Thomas - Screen Scotland
Editor
Jonathan Seal
Director of Photography
Marisa Privitera Murdoch
Sound
Marisa Privitera Murdoch
Composer
Blair Coron, Graeme Ronald, Andrew W
Principal cast
Thomas Joshua Cooper, Kate Mooney, Laura Indigo Cooper

Categories

Production Status

Production Company

Marisa Privitera Murdoch Films

C/O:
John Archer
Hopscotch Films
Film City Glasgow, 401 Govan Road, Glasgow, G51 2QJ

Page updates

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