Martha Cooper brings back the old days at Subliminal Projects…

Beginning in the 1970s, legendary NYC street photographer MARTHA COOPER captured some of the most indelible images of the vibrant upstart Hip Hop culture of pre-reconstruction Manhattan. Her massive body of color photographs documents the most crucial movers and innovators of the era, from the then-burgeoning realms of bombing, breaking, rapping, alongside everyday peeps straight-up bugging out on the block. Snapshots of what already seems like a long-bygone era when downtown was still a dirty word, rats had the right-of-way, and curb culture wasn’t yet a marketing tool are reminders of the true meaning of early Hip Hop and the power and innovation of youth culture the likes of which we might not see for some time. Currently on display at SHEPARD FAIREY’s Echo Park gallery, SUBLIMINAL PROJECTS is “Street Shots,” a must-see selection of some of Cooper’s greatest hits with visuals so vivid the sounds and smells of the era almost leap from the prints. And that’s a good thing. HAVE A LOOK:

Photos by Young Zhang…

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 21st, 2009 at 8:21 am and is filed under Graffiti, LA, News, Openings, Shepard Fairey, art. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.