Martha Cooper, legendary graffiti photographer
She brought graffiti culture to the world with her camera. 📸 Now, over 35 years later, Martha Cooper is featured in a new documentary.
Martha Cooper, legendary photographer of graffiti
Photographer Martha Cooper helped expand graffiti culture to the world. Now, her story is told in the documentary “Martha: A Picture Story" from Selina Miles. Cooper started to capture graffiti-covered subways cars and taggers in the 1970s. It coincided with the use of spray cans and markers. In 1984, she co-authored a landmark book, Subway Art, which helped graffiti become a global art form in the entertainment wolrd beyond the trains of NYC society. Cooper graduated in art from Grinnell College, Iowa, and became the first female photojournalist to be employed by the New York Post. Her introduction to the world of graffiti came through a feature story about children playing on the streets without their parents.
“To me, it makes the city more interesting as you're walking around to see things that are written by hand on the wall as opposed to seeing tons of advertising everywhere. I deplore the fact that there's so much advertising all over New York.”
While Cooper didn’t initially think graffiti was visually appealing, she was intrigued by the people creating the art on the streets of New York. In 1995, New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani signed the Anti-Graffiti Task Force Executive Order to combat graffiti, stating that “a cleaner city is a safer city.”
“I know It's not as if I love every piece of graffiti that I see on written on every wall and I don't like it if I see it on like a marble statue for example or a beautiful building. I would prefer the graffiti writers stick to writing their names on things that don't matter.”
In the last four decades, the street art scene has completely changed although it’s still to gain the recognition she says it deserves.
Brut.
18 comments
Alana P.
06/05/2019 14:28Vandalism as art
Christine G.
06/04/2019 17:24She is really loved and respected by street artists !!!
Buhangin V.
06/04/2019 08:32Martha Cooper's latest graffiti documentary is about the 1UP crew,
Rebeca d.
05/29/2019 10:40Izzy Cooks
Sarah C.
05/28/2019 19:44Style Wars is one of the best graffiti documentaries I've seen, I bet she knew all the old school writers. Awesome
Ivan C.
05/28/2019 01:42She stole art and got famous lol
Zay K.
05/24/2019 15:14I thought you’d find this interesting
Kailey K.
05/23/2019 13:15this is pretty cool
Evok E.
05/23/2019 04:12wacha sales ahi
Buzzy T.
05/22/2019 17:38Alex argot watch rhis
Davide B.
05/22/2019 08:36Piero
Omgg G.
05/21/2019 08:09Queen of writers, thanks 4 ever
Wallid A.
05/20/2019 11:51I meet her before all this thank you Matrix
Cam D.
05/20/2019 08:12🤗🤗
Maarten W.
05/20/2019 05:13Love the quote.. It's a different culture when painting trains is commissioned - for me streetart and graffiti should be illegal. It's a message to the society written by unknown individuals with a chance to be crossed.
Wesh M.
05/20/2019 04:37Martha cooper ❤❤❤❤❤
Luis H.
05/19/2019 01:00Now graff is watered down I love seeing vandalized walls not legal ones
Brut
05/14/2019 21:20Martha Cooper captured street artists in the 70s and 80s — but in the 21st century, there's no bigger street artist than Banksy.