Thomas Joshua Cooper facts for kids

Thomas Joshua Cooper (born December 19, 1946) is an American photographer. He is known as one of the best landscape photographers of our time. He takes amazing pictures of nature and wide-open spaces.

Early Life and Education

Thomas Joshua Cooper studied many subjects like art, philosophy, and literature. He earned his first college degree from Humboldt State University in California in 1969. Later, in 1972, he received a special degree in photography from the University of New Mexico. He earned this degree with high honors.

Inspiration for His Art

Cooper found inspiration from famous photographers from the 1930s and 1940s. These included artists like Ansel Adams, who was part of a group called Group f/64. Cooper has said that he deeply admires the work of photographers like Edward Weston, Alfred Stieglitz, and Paul Strand. He also believes that Robert Frank is a truly amazing photographer alive today.

His Photography Career

Thomas Joshua Cooper had his very first art show in 1971. This was a "solo show," meaning only his pictures were on display. Since then, he has had more than 95 solo exhibitions, showing his work all around the world.

After teaching art and photography in California, Cooper moved to England. In 1982, he started a special program for fine art photography at the Glasgow School of Art in Scotland. He is now retired from teaching.

Cooper loves taking pictures, but he doesn't like certain words used for photography. He prefers to say he "makes" pictures, not "snaps," "shoots," or "takes" them. This is because he puts a lot of thought and effort into each photograph he creates.

Besides being a photographer, Cooper is also a poet. He has written books of short poems called haiku. Many of his poems are about nature and are connected to his photography.

In 2009, Cooper received a special award called a Guggenheim Fellowship for his photography. This award helps artists continue their important work.

Cooper has lived in Scotland since the 1980s. His artwork is shown and sold by the Ingleby Gallery in Edinburgh, Scotland.

In September 2019, Cooper opened a big exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. This show was called The World's Edge. It featured many of his large black-and-white photographs. These photos were part of his projects like The Atlas of Emptiness and Extremity and The Atlantic Basin Project. He started the Atlantic Basin Project in 1987 to photograph the most extreme points around the Atlantic Ocean.

Awards and Honors

Thomas Joshua Cooper has received several important awards for his photography:

• 1970, John D. Phelen Award in Art and Literature
• 1994, Major Artists Award, Scottish Arts Council, Edinburgh, Scotland
• 1999, Major Artist's Award, Lannan Foundation, Santa Fe, New Mexico
• 2014, Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh

Museums Featuring His Work

Cooper's photographs are held in over 50 museums and public collections. Some of these include:

• Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
• Denver Art Museum, Denver Colorado
• The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, California
• Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), Houston, Texas
• Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Los Angeles, California
• Carré d'Art (Nîmes Museum of Contemporary Art), Nîmes, France
• Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton, New Jersey
• The Tate Gallery, London, England
• The Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England