Thomas Joshua Cooper

Thomas Joshua Cooper (born 1946, San Francisco) is an American photographer of Cherokee descent. He is considered amongst the premier contemporary landscape photographers.[1]

Cooper received his bachelor’s degree from Humboldt State University in Arcata, California in 1969. In 1972, he received his master’s in photography from the University of New Mexico.[2]

Cooper was inspired by the works of the photographers of the f/64 group of the 1930s and 1940s, such as Ansel Adams. Cooper states, "I'll live and die by the late works of Edward Weston, Alfred Stieglitz and Paul Strand, and I think Robert Frank is the most extraordinary living photographic picture-maker."[3]

Cooper loves being a photographer, but is frustrated by some of the vocabulary that is used in the field. He indicates, "I hate the words "snap", "shoot" and "take" when it comes to making photographs. Everything I do is very seriously built up. They are 'made' pictures."[3]

Not only a photographer, Cooper is a poet and has written a few Haiku books. Most of them are inspired by nature and really reflect his camera work, e.g. About water, trees, the world and sometimes even animals.

Cooper travels all over the world, discovering and exploring places people only dream of going. He has discovered recently named 3 places on the map- Catherine Rock, LISA Island and Landout point. these places will be marked in 2009s new maps.

He currently resides in Glasgow, Scotland, where he founded the Fine Art Photography Department at the world-renowned Glasgow School of Art in 1982. He is now a senior researcher in the faculty of Fine Art, holding a Professorial role and Head of Department.[4] He is married to Catherine Alice Mooney and together they have two daughters, Laura Indigo Cooper and Sophie Alice Cooper.

In 2009 Cooper achieved a Guggenheim Fellowship in Photography.[5]

He is represented by The Pace Gallery, New York.

Contents

Awards

Museums

Cooper’s works are held by over fifty[6] museums and public collections, among them:[1]

Notes

  1. ^ a b Everett, Deborah (2008) "Thomas Joshua Cooper (b. 1946), Cherokee Photographer" pp. 27-29 In Everett, Deborah and Zorn, Elayne (2008) Encyclopedia of Native American Artists Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut, page 27, ISBN 978-0-313-33762-8
  2. ^ a b "Thomas Joshua Cooper" John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation biography
  3. ^ a b Benedictus, Leo (28 August 2008) "Thomas Joshua Cooper's best shot" The Guardian, an interview in the "My Best Shot" series
  4. ^ "Staff Profile: Prof. Thomas J. COOPER". Glasgow School of Art. http://www.gsa.ac.uk/gsa.cfm?pid=104&sid=62. Retrieved 2010-09-17. 
  5. ^ "Thomas Joshua Cooper". Guggenheim Foundation. http://www.gf.org/fellows/16515-thomas-joshua-cooper. Retrieved 2010-09-17. 
  6. ^ "About Thomas Joshua Cooper" Pace Wildenstein Gallery
  7. ^ Arnest, Mark (30 June 2002) "Denver Art Museum exhibit gives full exposure to rise of photography" The Gazette (Colorado Springs)

Further reading

External links

In a way, he was a strong teacher in his deepness and weakness as teacher. A good day! Improving of this quotation: Cooper loves being a photographer, but is frustrated by some of the vocabulary that is used in the field. He indicates, "I hate the words "snap", "shoot" and "take" when it comes to making photographs. Everything I do is very seriously built up. They are 'made' pictures."

Improvisation: Thomas Joshua Cooper wants and wanted to be a photographer for his whole life. Cooper avoids some of the vocabulary that is used in the field: "snap", "shoot" and "take" when it comes to making photographs. He indicates: "Everything I do is very seriously built up. They are 'made' pictures." Although you do not see immediately, that his pictures made up, because you need to have time to look at these images longer.

In a way, he was a strong teacher in his deepness and weakness as teacher. A good day!