Martha Cooper book launch

Last night Subliminal Projects in Echo Park had a book launch for prolific New York photographer, Martha Cooper. I was hoping she'd be in attendance so I took a pic of her and me from 2004.

Although billed as an exhibition of her pics of NYC street life, rather than her usual hip-hop snapshots (graffiti, b-boys, writers) the show was actually the most comprehensive retrospective of her photography spanning decades.

Whole car I'd never seen the photos of the graffiti and the writers behind the art printed so large (and displayed so raw.) These photos that we know and love are timeless and, even though I wasn't in the US, feel very familiar to me as a devotee to Subway Art. The new, unseen photos included Keith Haring painting (in colour) and kids playing in the streets of urban NYC (in black and white). The latter captured a sort of innocence rarely seen amongst the hustle and bustle in the city today. Or may be it was monochrome that did that for me ;)

Martha Cooper signing photo of me and her taken in Los Angeles, 2004.

Piece and quiet I left last night with a numbered poster set (#69) which included a pre-order for the augmented Subway Art book coming out in the spring. I went back to Subliminal to get a closer look when the hipsters aren't blocking the view. Enjoy the video below.