Jerald Cooper

Photographer Jerald “Coop” Cooper fuses memory, pop culture, and design to reframe architectural history through the lens of Black culture. Recognized with the 2023 Julius Shulman Institute Excellence in Photography Award, Cooper brings an unconventional path to his medium: He began in talent management and brand strategy, working with artists like Kevin Hart, Michael B. Jordan, and Young Guru.

It was his Instagram feed, Hood Century (@hoodmidcenturymodern), that catapulted the Ohio native to stardom of his own. Cooper’s images of mid-century architecture in historically Black neighborhoods evolved into a media agency dedicated to documenting, researching, and educating on Black Modernism – one that invites students to consider architecture in relation to family, community, and everyday life. “Modernism is more than a style to Black folks,” Cooper notes. “It symbolizes the modernist framework, whether it’s the West African decolonial revolutions from the late 1950s into the ‘70s or the Civil Rights movement in America. Modernism strikes me as our movement.”