« In the ’70s, graffiti was viewed as a vandalistic and despicable activity. To its critics, Martha responded, “And what about advertising? In New York, every surface is covered in ads. At least tags are handmade.» Martha Cooper « This marked the start of her most famous personal project: documenting New York’s graffiti scene of the 1970s and 1980s, which would inspire many of her books. At the time, she was working for the New York Post. “It was a personal documentation. I was there with my camera every day; I passed through that neighborhood on my way to the paper,” she explains in an interview for Huck magazine.» Martha Cooper « The underlying idea of my observations was that kids were creative, doing something from nothing—especially when their parents weren’t looking. The entire hip-hop culture was about creating something out of nothing.» Martha Cooper « I wanted to capture the essence of this culture that was about to disappear, to preserve a piece of history. I never would have imagined that, thirty years later, graffiti would still be here, alive and thriving!.» Martha Cooper