Happy publication day! 🎉 Repost: @womenstreetphotographers ‘History Monday- Martha Cooper ( @marthacoopergram ) In 1980, Martha Cooper quit her job as the first woman staff photographer at the New York Post to focus on documenting the city’s burgeoning graffiti scene. One of the few adults given access to these hermetic, underground worlds, Cooper documented graffiti writers breaking into train yards and painting 100-foot long masterpieces on the side of subway cars. Cooper then traversed the Bronx, staking out exquisite pictorial locales, waiting hours for the train to pass by in order to document these ephemeral works of art in transit. In 1984, Cooper and Henry Chalfant co-authored “Subway Art”, a book affectionately known as the “bible” that has since sold more than a quarter of a million copies around the globe. Now Cooper and editor Roger Gastman revisit her historic archive replete with hundreds of thousands of 35mm Kodachrome slides of intimate portraits, action shots, walls, subway cars, and gallery openings to create “Spray Nation: 1980s NYC Graffiti Photographs.” Although the original pieces and many of the writers are now gone, Cooper’s photographs preserve the golden age of graffiti — one of the most influential forms of art to ever exist. Martha Cooper has been a professional photographer for over 50 years. In addition to “Subway Art”, she has published numerous other photo books. Her work has been exhibited in museums and galleries worldwide.’ "Spray Nation: 1980s NYC Graffiti Photographs”. Photographs by @marthacoopergram Edited by @rogergastman Published by @prestel_publishing Visit the 🔗 in our bio for more information Photos: 1. Martha Cooper, 2014 2. Women on train, 1981 3. Commissioned signs by CRASH, NOC 167 & JEST, Bronx, 1981 4. “Spray Nation: 1980s NYC Graffiti Photographs" Book Cover All photos © Martha Cooper #marthacooper #artistsoninstagram #graffitiart #bookstagram #bookpublisher #womenstreetphotographers #marthacoopergram #graffitiworld #graffitisubway