COLOGNE, Germany (https://www.MZEE.com/feat/ hiphopfiles/downloads.html) - "Gripping, broadly documented cultural record of Hip Hop's audacious, street-smart, and hyper-creative early years. Cooper's photographs brim over with energy, passion, and a raw stylishness. Hip Hop Files is a richly celebratory tribute." GEORGE PITTS, director of photography of Vibe Magazine
MARTHA COOPER has the reputation of being one of the first and foremost photographers of emerging Hip Hop culture in New York City. Her new book, Hip Hop Files: Photographs 1979-1984, makes a significant part of her extensive and unique archives accessible for the first time. The publication of many of Cooper's photos in the early 80s disseminated the culture both at home and abroad.
AKIM WALTA aka ZEB.ROC.SKI, well-known German Hip Hop head and founder of MZEE Records, tracked down the subjects in the photos and conducted numerous interviews. Insightful quotes and statements by over 70 Hip Hop icons accompany the shots including LEE, FAB 5 FREDDY, the ROCK STEADY CREW, DEZ aka DJ KAY SLAY, BOBBITO, GRANDMASTER CAZ, DONDI, DURO, BLADE, SEEN, QUIK, LADY PINK, RUN DMC, AFRIKA BAMBAATAA, STEPHAN EINS, RUZA BLUE, MICHAEL HOLMAN, RAMMELLZEE, FUTURA 2000 and many others.
Martha Cooper's legendary subjects for Hip Hop Files: Photographs 1979-1984, include: AFRIKA BAMBAATAA, ALMIGHTY KAY GEE, BEV 167, BLADE, CAINE 1 (R.I.P.), CEY, CHIEF ROCKER BUSY BEE, THE COLD CRUSH BROTHERS, CRASH, CRAZY LEGS, DAZE, DEAL (CIA), DEZ (aka DJ Kay Slay), DJ MEAN GENE, DJ MIGHTY MIKE, DJ TONY TONE, DOUBLE TROUBLE, DOZE, DURO (CIA), DYNAMIC ROCKERS, EASY AD, FAB 5 FREDDY, FANTASTIC FOUR, FANTASTIC FREAKS, FLINT, THE FLOOR MASTERS, FREEDOM, FROSTY FREEZE, FUTURA 2000, GRANDMASTER CAZ, GRANDWIZZARD THEODORE, HE3, DONDI R.I.P), HENRY CHALFANT, THE ORIGINAL JAZZY JAY, JDL, KASE 2, KEITH HARING, KEN SWIFT, KEVIE KEV ROCKWELL, KID GLIDE (Dynamic Rockers), KIPPY DEE (R.I.P.), KOOL MOE DEE, KURTIS BLOW, LADY PINK, LENNY LEN, LITTLE CRAZY LEGS, LUCAN THE WILD BOY, MARE 139 MR. FREEZE, THE NEW YORK BREAKERS, PATTY ASTOR, PAZE, RAMMELLZEE THE ROCK STEADY CREW, SHY 149 (R.I.P.), SKEME, SPIDER, SPINNER, STAY HIGH 149, TAKE 1, T-KID, TONY SILVER, TRACY 168, TY FLY, ZEPHYR and so many more!
Also featuring shots from the legendary High School of Art & Design, on the sets of "Wild Style," "Style Wars" and "
Beat Street" plus Trains, Trains and more Trains!
"Marty
Cooper was the first Hip Hop photographer and she remains the best." STEVEN HAGER, author of Hip Hop: The Illustrated History of Break Dancing, Rap Music, and Graffiti
MARTHA COOPER's dramatic photos are a testament to her willingness to carry her cameras into dangerous areas in order to get the shot. Martha photographed kids in their own world: playing, exploring, being creative. Fortunately, Martha was at the right place at the right time to document young people creating the music, dance, and art that became known worldwide. She followed people who would one day become icons.
MARTHA COOPER is a documentary photographer specialized in shooting urban vernacular art and architecture for over twenty-five years. From 1977-1980 she worked as a staff photographer for the New York Post, leaving in 1980 in order to spend more time photographing subway graffiti and breaking. In 1984, in collaboration with Henry Chalfant, she published SUBWAY ART (Thames and Hudson/Henry Holt), The classic book showcases the best painted trains of the era and is often referred to as "The Bible" by graffiti aficionados. In 1990, she published R.I.P.: MEMORIAL WALL ART (Thames and Hudson/Henry Holt), with folklorist Joseph Sciorra. Martha is the
Director of Photography at City Lore, the New York Center for Urban Folk Culture.
AKIM WALTA aka ZEB.ROC.SKI from Germany has been an active b-boy and writer since the early '80s and is well known in the Hip Hop world for his contributions to its growth, globally. He is author of GRAFFITI ART GERMANY (Schwarzkopf, 1994), and publisher of Hip Hop magazines, MZEE and ON THE RUN. In 1993, he founded MZEE Records, and FROM HERE TO FAME, a Hip Hop network based in Cologne.
