Graffiti and street art, a lifelong photo quest | Martha Cooper | TEDxVienna

Photography has long been intertwined with exploration. Whether to the North Pole or the moon, no expedition would be complete without cameras. Since 1978 Martha has been photographing the biggest art movement in the history of the world - graffiti.


Martha Cooper is a documentary photographer who has shot urban art since 1978. Her early photos of NYC subway graffiti are credited by today's street artists as having been instrumental in spreading the movement worldwide.

[pradaman]

The woman is a pioneer, good to see platforms like this recognizing her impact on the culture

[mouija]

I started painting in 1995, but I happened upon a copy of Subway art in 1993. It literally set a new trajectory for my life. I'd seen graffiti tags everywhere as a street skater, and even way back in the early 80's taking the train from Hartford into Brooklyn with my folks to mail packages to Poland. I think Subway Art was the first time I got an inside look at graffiti, understood that the kids in the book were just like me, with the photos of them crowded in a bedroom drawing together, and decided to try my hand at making some art of my own.

I really think that Subway Art and Spraycan Art made a massive contribution to graffiti culture. Pre-internet, it was like a holy text for budding writers to absorb and see the best styles, and also to learn the logistics of how to paint well.

[Empyronaut]

This woman....she did so much for so many....she changed the look of the world by her work.
Thank you, Queen Cooper. May you walk among us forever.

[susjus]

Thank you Martha Cooper for shedding so much light on a creative culture 💜 God bless you

[Aworology]

The legendary Martha Cooper. Love her.

[canadianfloormasters]

I have so much respect for this woman.

[palmspringsartist]

She’s the only reason you got my view for this video! Respect to Martha Cooper🙌🏼

[swine]

I dont watch many educational videos, but when i do, its about stuff i did instead of learning

[sektion.]

Listened to this while sketching in my blackbook. Very interesting to hear how she started her career, and how it's been going.

[Midland_Wolf_]

Living legend, a proper trailblazer. Big up

[jwco]

unfortunate that this series is formatted for short attention spans: 15 minutes gives her no opportunity whatsoever to momentarily explore any of the insights gleaned over the course of her close to 4o YEARS of paying attention. example: intriguing is the fact that it took Thames + Hudson in England to publish her first collection of photographs of New York graffiti, they being one of the very few larger publishers to also issue books related to concrete & visual poetry (such as Tom Phillip's "A Humument" & the recent Marvin & Ruth Sackner anthology "The Art Of Typewriting"), which is arguably a related genre. still, good to hear her & see how she chose to try to deal with the time(col)lapse.

[holeymattress]

Some graffiti artists refer to her as a "culture vulture."