Cette auteure est peut-être surtout connue pour sa documentation de la scène du graffiti new-yorkais dans les années 1970 et 1980. Son travail photographique personnel a commencé alors qu'elle travaillait au New York Post, l'amenant à photographier des enfants de son quartier. Un jeune homme nommé Edwin l'a initiée au monde du graffiti, lui expliquant qu'il s'agissait d'une forme d'art utilisant des surnoms d'artistes. Son accès à des artistes comme Dondi, qui lui a permis de le photographier pendant qu'il réalisait des graffitis, l'a plongée dans la documentation de cette sous-culture, aboutissant au livre Subway Art. Sa formation en art et en anthropologie informe sa perspective unique sur la culture urbaine et ses expressions visuelles.
Documenting the work of graffiti writers who illegally painted subway cars in New York City, the authors recall how they gained entry to the New York graffiti community in the 1970s and 1980s and describe the techniques that they used to photograph it.
From the archives of the bestselling photographer of Subway Art and Hip Hop Files comes this fantastic, previously unpublished collection of images from 1970s New York. Street Play captures the creative spirit of city kids making the best of their harsh environment, reflecting a transitional time before the Lower East Side's art scene emerged.
In Name Tagging , graffiti photography legend Martha Cooper presents a dizzying array of "Hello My Name Is" stickers adorned with tags, the origin of graffiti and today's street art cultures. Cooper's introduction, artist interviews and photographs make clear how artists famed and anonymous take advantage of the accessibility and practicality of nametag stickers. From CLAW MONEY and NECK FACE to TWIST, SURE, FAUST, COSBE and many, many more, Cooper's camera has captured the artistry and audacity of these artists and their distinctive tags. Name Tagging captures the variety and innovation of tags, crediting the form's history while demonstrating how old school methods breed some of today's most exciting graffiti.
Presents a pictorial look at women break dancers known as the B*Girlz.
In 1970, as a young photographer, Martha Cooper moved from the USA to Tokyo and became fascinated with Irezumi, the art of Japanese tattooing. Searching for an artist, she found Horibun I, a respected master working in the traditional Okachimachi District of Tokyo. Forbidden in Japan for nearly 80 years, Irezumi in 1970 was an art form strictly for those in the know. For some months Horibun I allowed Cooper to follow and photograph him working. The photos, untouched for 40 years, have finally found their way into a book that tells both the story of Irezumi in 1970, and of Martha Cooper's first adventure into a subculture--Publisher's description.
– Collector’s Edition
Culled from the extensive archives of one of the most renowned graffiti photographers of all time comes this remarkable collection of previously unpublished images of New York’s graffiti scene in the 1980s. If you were a graffiti writer in 1980s New York City, you wanted Martha Cooper to document your work—and she probably did. Cooper has spent decades immortalizing art that is often overlooked, and usually illegal. Her first book, 1984’s Subway Art (a collaboration with Henry Chalfant), is affectionately referred to by graffiti artists as the “bible”. To create Spray Nation, Cooper and editor Roger Gastman pored through hundreds of thousands of 35mm Kodachrome slides, painstakingly selecting and digitizing them. The photos range from obscure tags to portraits, action shots, walls, and painted subway cars. They are accompanied by heartfelt essays celebrating Cooper’s drive, spirit, and singular vision. The images capture a gritty New York era that is gone forever. And although the original pieces (as well as many of their creators) have been lost, these powerful photos feel as immediate as a subway train thundering down the tracks.
Martha Cooper hat den Ruf, die erste und wichtigste Fotografin der entstehenden Hip Hop Kultur in New York zu sein. Hip Hop Files—Photographs 1979-1984 macht mit vielen, zum Teil unveröffentlichten Fotos, einen bedeutenden Teil ihres umfangreichen und einzigartigen Archivs zugänglich. Das Buch dokumentiert die Anfänge des Phänomens, das heute als Hip Hop bekannt ist. In den frühen 80ern wurde diese Kultur durch Veröffentlichungen ihrer Fotos in den Vereinigten Staaten, Asien und in Europa verbreitet. Von 1999 bis 2003 machte Akim Walta aka ZEB. ROC. SKI, bekannter deutscher Hip Hop Aktivist und Labelchef von MZEE Records, die Akteure ausfindig, die Gegenstand von Martha Coopers Aufnahmen waren, und führte zahlreiche Interviews. Die Fotos werden begleitet von informativen Texten und bildbegleitenden Zitaten von über 70 Protagonisten, darunter Hip Hop Ikonen wie: LEE, FAB 5 FREDDY, ROCK STEADY CREW, DONDI, BOBBITO, DEZ aka DJ KAY SLAY, RUN DMC, SEEN, AFRIKA BAMBAATAA, BLADE, RAMMELLZEE, FUTURA 2000, GRANDMASTER CAZ, DURO, LADY PINK und viele andere.