Cox grew up in the busy port of Southampton, England where centuries of maritime culture and the connection to the sea made a huge impression.   Instead of soccer Martin’s childhood was all about boats and researching maritime history.  Martin attended two attended excellent art schools in UK where he was immersed in photography.  A desire to explore led him to California in his 20s. Later he settled in Los Angeles trained as a master black & white analogue printer before going on to establish himself as a fine art photographer.
 
His photographs have been exhibited in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and London. His work is in the collection of an Icelandic museum and in the LA Maritime Museum where his seven-year series “Stranded” captured the decline of the ocean liner was exhibited.  Last summer prints from landscape series Terra Figmenta were exhibited in Iceland and LA. Later this year his charcoal maritime drawing will be on show at Coastline College, CA.

In the pandemic he restarted his dormant drawing practice which had begun in Southampton.  Fascinated by the old back and white maritime photo collections from his youth and influenced by British painters JMW Turner, John Martin and Sculptor Phyllida Barlow he explores the medium of charcoal drawing, and painting on low status materials like wood off cuts, packaging materials and cardboard.

@martincoxphotos

martincox.com

Suzanne Pratt