Читать книгу Street Knowledge - King ADZ - Страница 19

Martha Cooper is a living legend: one of the most influential documentary photographers of street culture and co-author of Subway Art-required reading for anyone into street culture. Martha has done all kinds of photography over the past 40 years in order to make a living. The bottom line is that she is an editorial photographer, meaning that she shoots photos for publication in newspapers, magazines, books and the web, so that people can find out about things.

‘I prefer to call myself a “documentary photographer” rather than a photojournalist because to me journalism implies news and I don’t like shooting news stories.’

I first met Martha in Berlin in 2007 when, one summer afternoon, her German publisher tried to get her to autograph 1500 copies of her latest book. I helped her out with the signing of 700 or so, by keeping her supplied with a stream of open books to write on, and we bonded over the absurdity of the situation. She returned the favour and shot an interview for me in the rubble of a hip hop museum that was being built nearby.

‘For me, the subject matter always overrides factors such as unusual light or dramatic angles. I really want to be able to see what’s going on in my photos. I feel the camera is an excellent tool for capturing the world and I’m more interested in historic preservation than I am in art. That being said, I would also like my photos to be aesthetically pleasing so the challenge is to present straightforward documentation well framed and well lit. I’ve pretty much shot the same way my entire life. Over the years I’ve been more specialized in my choice of subject matter but my basic way of taking pictures has remained the same.’