In 1970s New York, photographer Martha Cooper captured some of the first images of graffiti at a time when the city had declared war on it. Decades later, Cooper has become influential to the global movement of street artists.
Martha Cooper is an unexpected icon of the street art
movement - a tiny, grey-haired figure running alongside
crews of masked graffiti artists.
In the 1970's, as the boroughs of New York City burned,
she worked as a photographer for the New York Post,
seeking images of creativity and play where others saw
crime and poverty. As a result, she captured some of
the first images of New York graffiti, at a time when
the city had declared war on this new culture.
Martha and her co-author Henry Chalfant compiled these
images into the book Subway Art.
However, the commercial failure of the book forced
Martha to leave graffiti behind, moving on to document
many other hidden cultures of New York.
20 years later Martha discovers she has become a legend
of the graffiti world - a culture that has now exploded
into a global movement. Subway Art became one of the
most sold - and stolen - art books of all time,
photocopied and shared by graffiti artists for decades.
At 75 years of age, Martha finds herself navigating a
culture vastly changed. The small community born from
struggle and adversity, has grown into a commercial
industry fuelled by the rise of social media.
Now every new piece of street art is immediately
uploaded, and crowds line up for selfies in front of
popular works. Martha struggles to find her place in
this new world, driven by a passion for capturing the
creativity that helps people rise above their
environment.