Martha Cooper - Tag Town

Every graffiti writer began his or her writing career with a tag. For those who learn to read tags, a world of aesthetic expression and communication opens up. Tags are a universal language - the jazz of lettering. The photos in Tag Town, dating back to the 1960s, introduce us to the origins of New York style graffiti, containing rare photos of work on the street by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring and Kenny Scharf. Accompanying text is based on interviews with New York graffiti pioneers Blade, Part I and Snake I.