Aretha Cool: An Interview Matthew Jordan Smith

VP of Product, Dan Harlacher, met with Matthew Jordan Smith to talk about his latest project ARETHA COOL: A Decade with The Queen of Soul. Aretha Cool covers the multimedia journey of renowned photographer, Matthew Jordan Smith’s friendship with Aretha Franklin. It includes his fine art photography and audio commentary featuring iconic and never before seen images of the legendary singer. The book and his narrations are a touching tribute to the Queen of Soul. They celebrate her extraordinary life during the last years of her career. We hope you enjoy the interview and support Matthew’s Kickstarter project!

THE PROJECT
Aretha Franklin was an icon, and her life has been captured in books, films, documentaries and more. But until now, no one has ever shared images and stories of Aretha Franklin’s last decade of life from a photographer’s point of view. Matthew is raising funds to create a photography book to share an intimate look at Aretha Franklin’s life from the perspective of a photographer who was there to witness the last years of her career. In Aretha Cool, you’ll get to experience the joy, laughter, and excitement of being up close and personal with the Queen of Soul.

MATTHEW JORDAN SMITH’S PUBLISHING HISTORY
Matthew has worked as a professional photographer for the past 37 years creating images of some of the world most iconic figures. One of his favorite clients was Aretha Franklin and with your help, Aretha Cool will be his fourth published book.

His first published book was Sepia Dreams, which featured photographs and interviews from fifty African-American celebrities sharing their stories of how they each worked to turn their dreams into reality and achieved success.

His second book, Lost and Found, focused on the families of missing children and was sponsored by Microsoft and sanctioned by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

For his third published book, Future American President, he traveled to every state in America and asked 100 strangers if he could photograph and interview their children. It was only with the support of the Kickstarter Community that this project was able to come to life. The foreword for Future American President was written by Zendaya.