Graffiti Spans Decades

In recent years, graffiti has transformed from an underground and illegal form of self-expression to a globally celebrated art form. Martha Cooper, now 72 years old, has watched and documented this change through the lens of her camera since the late 1970s.

Cooper fell into the world of graffiti when working on an assignment for feature stories in The New York Post, where she had to photograph people. During this assignment, she met graffiti artist HE3, who showed her tags (graffiti art signatures) and introduced her to more artists. Cooper loved the experience of sneaking underground with artists, and since then, she has been extremely successful in the documentation of street art.

Cooper specializes in documenting graffiti when it is still in the process of being created. She stated in a CNN interview, “I enjoy watching artists at work because when you see a finished wall, you don’t really know what it took to get there.”

Throughout the past 40 years, Cooper has dug into the thrilling art form. She has experienced the adrenaline rush of illegal graffiti with street artists and documented graffiti everywhere from underground and in subways to festivals in Senegal and Soweto.  However, as graffiti grows increasingly celebrated, Cooper misses the excitement that used to be part of the experience. 

Even after 40 years, Cooper finds new tags every day and has released numerous books on her findings. Her third edition of Subway Art, a collaboration with Henry Chalfant on subway graffiti, will be released soon, providing a window into one the 21st century’s most up-and-coming art forms.

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