Meeting Graffiti thru the Lens of Martha Cooper

Meeting Graffiti thru the Lens of Martha Cooper

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Bingo! I found an entire site devoted to graffiti in Paris: parisgraffiti.com Although it loads slowly, it’s so worth looking at this artwork.

Okay, peeps, I can hear many of your eyes rolling. You see graffiti as the defacing of public property. What you might not know is that many pieces are actually commissioned. Just like the old Coca-Cola and the See Rock City murals of the past, graffiti – or urban wall art – is becoming quite hip in the ‘ahhhht’ world.

I’ve contacted a woman in NYC who’s made a career out of photographing graffiti all over the world. She and I are set to meet mid-August. Keep your fingers crossed that she’ll let me in on some of Paris’ hidden secrets.

This photographer, Martha Cooper, is an American photojournalist born in the 1940s. After graduating from high school at age 16 she earned an art degree at 19 then went to teach English in Thailand. Later she rode her motorcycle from Bangkok to London to earn another diploma, this time from Oxford. She worked at National Geographic and New York Post. That’s where the graffiti bug bit her. National Geographic, The Smithsonian, and Natural History Magazine are among the many publications that have featured her work. She’s published many books.

Tell me she’s not led an interesting life. I can’t wait to meet her.

{these two graffiti photos can be purchase online at parisgraffiti.com}

2 Comments
  • Georganne
    Posted at 23:04h, 11 July

    Remind me to tell you bout the time my cohorts and I got lost in NYC. They were terrified and the Social Studies teacher here was going “oh wow!!! Look at the really cool graffitti!”. Lol!! I truly understand!!

  • Pingback:The Louvre or Not? | { lisa weldon }
    Posted at 15:39h, 13 July

    […] Harlem. Feeling the pull to know more, I contacted this art form’s foremost photographer, Martha Cooper of New York. I was quite honored that through Ms. Cooper, I received a formal introduction. Pick up […]