Martha: A Picture Story - Screening & Conversation
CL RECOMMENDS
CRITIC’S PICK
Thu., Apr. 17
In the 1970s, in her quest to become a professional photojournalist, Martha Cooper got a job at the New York Post documenting street culture in the notoriously forlorn boroughs of the Big Apple. Today, "Marty's" photographs of style writing (a/k/a graffiti), especially on the city's subway trains, breakdancing and other activities, which eventually became known as hip hop, constitute an invaluable source of historical knowledge.
Now in her 80s, Cooper is a living legend, still on the scene, chronicling and promoting style writing and urban art in the 21st century. In ‘Martha: A Picture Story,’ director Selina Miles succinctly captures the adventurous life and times of her subject, an unlikely iconic force within a global cultural movement.
The one-night-only screening of 'Martha Cooper: A Picture Story' at Plaza Atlanta is a fundraiser for Living Walls, the City Speaks. The screening includes a Q&A with Cooper moderated by Atlanta-based style writer Dr. Dax. – Doug DeLoach
From the venue:
Living Walls presents a one-time screening of Martha: A Picture Story at the Plaza Theatre on Thursday, April 17th from 7-9:30pm featuring a Q&A with Martha Cooper moderated by local graffiti writer Dr. Dax!
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 forthe New York Post, seeking images of creativity and play where others sawcrime 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. 20 years later Martha discovers she has become a legend of the graffiti world-a culture that has now exploded into a global movement.
"1977, the Bronx was burning down. No one really wanted to write that graffiti was an interesting thing. But I don’t want to shoot something that’s done with permission. It’s an outlaw art. That’s what makes it thrilling.” – Martha Cooper
Martha: A Picture Story - Screening & Convers... | 04/17/2025 7:00 PM