Current TV Pod - Martha Cooper

This is an excellent video interview about my client, 'Tag Town' photographer, Martha Cooper on Current TV. She recounts what it was like to document the humble beginnings of the graffiti scene in New York City when she was working as a freelance photographer for the New York Post. Watch and learn, people.

Added by Thomas Green at Current TV:

Martha Cooper was a photo-journalist living in New York City when she first began documenting the origins of B-boy (short for break-boys) and hip hop culture. While other New Yorkers at the time saw this movement as a trite, uninspired or even offensive fad, Martha found a new form of expressing art. Through her camera lens we recount the infancy of hip-hop culture, from the alleys and subways of New York to the masses beyond the boroughs.

Fecal Face - Martha Cooper Interview

Check out the interview between 'Tag Town' photographer, Martha Cooper and John Trippe, founder of the art + culture website Fecal Face (dot) com.

This interview gives a lot of insight into the early graffiti scene in New York City back in the 70's. If you're curious to know more about how Martha Cooper compiled the iconic photos in 'Tag Town' or how Fecal Face got it's name, click the link below...

Fecal Face - Martha Cooper Interview

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Tag Town Launch Party @ Alphabeta

Launch party and Book Signing with photographer, Martha Cooper and Editor, Tobias Barenthin Lindblad for the new book 'Tag Town'

Alphabeta
70 Greenpoint Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11222
(Subway directions)

Thursday, Oct. 23 from 7 - 10pm.

This all ages show is FREE!

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Thanks to everyone who came out for the book signing and first official launch party for 'Tag Town'.

Among the over 200 guests who were in attendance, we were blessed with the presence of many of the early writing legends for whom the book was written, including: Riff 170, Stay High 149, Coco 144, Flint 707, Bot 707, Nic 707, Ink 76, Mico, KC 1, Freedom, Lava 1, Part 1, Bama, Snake 1 and Clyde. Also people like Ket, Bg 183 and Ken Swift were there to celebrate with us.












Below are some pictures from this historic night at Alphabeta in Brooklyn. Enjoy!





Photo credit: Jacob Kimvall

Tag Town

Tag Town

Publisher : Dokument Forlag & Distribution (Sweden)

Photographer : Martha Cooper

Graffiti has spread to the far corners of the earth and in the process has become the biggest art movement in history and every graffiti writer began his or her writing career with a tag. Developing an original, consistently written name is the primary act for a writer. The photos in Tag Town, dating back to the 60’s, introduce us to the origins of New York style graffiti. Tags and pieces share a common heritage and by understanding one, you can understand the other. For those who learn to read tags, a world of aesthetic expression and communication opens up. Tags are a universal language – the jazz of lettering. Tag Town also contains rare photos of work on the street by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring and Kenny Scharf, artists whose tag-inspired work helped found the rapidly growing street art movement. The accompanying text is based on interviews with New York graffiti pioneers Blade, Part 1 and Snake 1. Martha Cooper has specialized in photographing urban art and architecture in New York City for thirty years.

Additional photos from the book can be found here.