David Cooper has been a photographer, photo editor, page designer and department manager during his newspaper career. A Kentucky native from Lexington, Cooper started as a freelancer and intern for his hometown paper while attending the University of Kentucky. He worked at small and medium size newspapers in Owensboro, Ky. and South Bend, Ind. Both publications, as well as Cooper, were recognized by state and national organizations for visual excellence during his time there.
After teaching as a photojournalist-in-residence at Western Kentucky University in 2000-2001, he accepted a position as a sports photo editor at USA Today. Assignments included on-site coordination and coverage of nearly a dozen World Series, the Masters golf tournament, the 2006 Winter Olympics in Italy as well as numerous baseball All-Star games. He worked on the news photo desk and collaborated on the front page for three years before retiring at the beginning of 2019.
Cooper’s interest in street photography was inspired by an exhibition of the work of Garry Winogrand at the National Gallery of Art in 2014.