Martha Cooper
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Martha Cooper is an American
photojournalist Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such ...
. She worked as a staff photographer for the ''
New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...
'' during the 1970s. She is best known for documenting the New York City
graffiti Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...
scene of the 1970s and 1980s. In 1984, Cooper and
Henry Chalfant Henry Chalfant (born January 2, 1940) is an American photographer and videographer most notable for his work on graffiti, breakdance, and hip hop culture. One of Chalfant's prints is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Ne ...
published their photographs of New York City graffiti in the book ''
Subway Art ''Subway Art'' is a collaborative book by Martha Cooper and Henry Chalfant, which documents the early history of the New York City graffiti movement. Originally published in 1984, the book has been described as a "landmark photographic history". ...
,'' which has been called the graffiti bible and by 2009 had sold half a million copies.


Life and work

Cooper picked up photography at the age of three. She graduated from high school at the age of 16, earned an art degree at age 19 from
Grinnell College Grinnell College is a private liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, United States. It was founded in 1846 when a group of New England Congregationalists established the Trustees of Iowa College. Grinnell has the fifth highest endowment-to-stu ...
. She taught English as a
Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John F. ...
volunteer in Thailand, journeyed by motorcycle from Bangkok to London and received an
anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...
diploma from the
University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...
. Her first experience in artistic photography began when Cooper was in Japan, and capturing images of elaborate tattoos. She was a photography intern at ''
National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...
'' in the 1960s, and worked as a staff photographer at the ''
New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...
'' in the 1970s. Her photographs have appeared in National Geographic, '' Smithsonian'' and '' Natural History'' magazines as well as several dozen books and journals. Her most known personal work, the New York City
graffiti Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...
scene of the 1970s and 1980s, began while working at the ''New York Post.'' On her return home from the Post she began taking photographs of children in her New York City neighborhood. One day she met a young kid named Edwin Serrano (He3) who helped expose her to some of the graffiti around her neighborhood. Serrano helped to explain to her that Graffiti is an art form and that each artist was actually writing his/her nickname. He introduced her to the graffiti "king",
DONDI Donald Joseph White, "DONDI" (April 7, 1961 – October 2, 1998) was an American graffiti artist. Biography Early life Born in the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn, Dondi was the youngest of five children. He was of African American a ...
. Dondi was the first to allow her to accompany him – while he was tagging she would take photos of his work. After meeting with Dondi, Cooper became fascinated with the underground subculture that these graffiti artists had created in New York City. In the 1984 she put together a book of photographs illustrating the graffiti subculture called ''
Subway Art ''Subway Art'' is a collaborative book by Martha Cooper and Henry Chalfant, which documents the early history of the New York City graffiti movement. Originally published in 1984, the book has been described as a "landmark photographic history". ...
.'' It became known as the Bible of
street art Street art is visual art created in public locations for public visibility. It has been associated with the terms "independent art", "post-graffiti", "neo-graffiti" and guerrilla art. Street art has evolved from the early forms of defiant graff ...
. In the 1980s, Cooper worked briefly in Belize photographing the people and archaeological remains of the Mayan culture at sites such as Nohmul and Cuello. Cooper lives in Manhattan, but from 2006 to 2016 she was working on a photography project in
Sowebo Sowebo (South West Baltimore) is a community-chosen name for a historic area in the South West of Baltimore City. Sowebo encompasses the neighborhoods of Union Square and Hollins Market, Baltimore. At one point, the area suffered from decades of u ...
, a Southwest Baltimore neighborhood. In 2019 she was the subject of a documentary feature ''Martha: A Picture Story''.


Publications

*''
Subway Art ''Subway Art'' is a collaborative book by Martha Cooper and Henry Chalfant, which documents the early history of the New York City graffiti movement. Originally published in 1984, the book has been described as a "landmark photographic history". ...
.'' By Cooper and
Henry Chalfant Henry Chalfant (born January 2, 1940) is an American photographer and videographer most notable for his work on graffiti, breakdance, and hip hop culture. One of Chalfant's prints is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Ne ...
.
Thames & Hudson Thames & Hudson (sometimes T&H for brevity) is a publisher of illustrated books in all visually creative categories: art, architecture, design, photography, fashion, film, and the performing arts. It also publishes books on archaeology, history, ...
, London, 1984; Henry Holt, New York, 1984. *''R.I.P.: New York Spraycan Memorials.'' Thames & Hudson, 1994. *''Hip Hop Files: Photographs 1979-1984.'' From Here to Fame, 2004. *''Street Play.'' From Here to Fame, 2005. *''We B*Girlz.'' text by Nika Kramer, PowerHouse, 2005. *''Tag Town.'' Dokument Press, 2007. *''New York State of Mind.'' PowerHouse, 2007. *''Going Postal.'' Mark Batty, 2009. *''Name Tagging.'' Mark Batty, 2010. *''Tokyo Tattoo 1970.'' Dokument, 2012. *''Postcards from New York City.'' Dokument, 2012. *''One Week With 1UP.'' Publikat GmbH, 2021. *''Spray Nation: 1980s NYC Graffiti Photos.'' Prestel, 2022.


See also

*
Street photography Street photography (also sometimes called candid photography) is photography conducted for art or enquiry that features unmediated chance encounters and random incidents within public places. Although there is a difference between street and ca ...


References


External links

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Cooper's website about B-GirlzCooper's website about female photographersCooper's website of New York City photosMartha Cooper talks Yakuza, Subway Art, China, Graffiti and 1Up Crew (Interview)Martha Cooper talks Photography, Graffiti and Taking Pictures (Interview)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Martha Graffiti in the United States American photojournalists Grinnell College alumni American women photographers American expatriates in Thailand 21st-century American women Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Women photojournalists