In Memory, Arthur Cooke

IN MEMORY, ARTHUR COOKE
6/14/1996 - 10/16/2020

[Photo above: Arthur, in 2014 at age 17, after winning the National YoungArts Silver Award in photography.]

With deep sadness we share the passing of the beautiful Arthur Cooke, a Venice Arts’ alumni, kind and gentle human being, and outstanding young photographer. Among his creative achievements, with the support of his artist-mentor, Issa, Arthur won the National YoungArts Silver Award, and received the largest scholarship ever given for a young photographer to attend NYU Tisch. The selection of photography in this gallery is from when he was a teenager in the Advanced Studies Photo program at Venice Arts. 

FROM ARTHUR’S ARTIST BIO, WHEN AT VENICE ARTS

“I started taking photos seriously in 2012 and have grown and experimented with the medium ever since. I shoot both film and digital, however my artistic process involves post-production in Photoshop regardless of what the photo was shot with. My work is consistently focused on abstractions of shapes and colors, and I am constantly searching for textures and spaces that I find aesthetically pleasing. I have worked with other forms of art such as drawing and painting but for some reason I was never confident in myself or my abilities until I was able to shoot behind a camera. It allowed me to step back and look at life in a different perspective, without worrying about the outcome. 

Whether I take a “good” or “bad” photograph, I’m usually just as excited and enthusiastic about it just for the sake of holding on to memories of the things and people that I find important in my life. To be able to look back through photographs and recognize aspects of the photo or memories of that day that you didn’t see before is really special. In that sense, photography has been a big influence on my life. Although I continue to test new mediums, photography is and will be a constant part of my life.”