[7] He quickly became a part of the downtown arts scene that included artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, and Robert Mapplethorpe.
[8] Marcopoulos credits Warhol in teaching him the value of photographing every-day objects and people, and Penn in showing him the power of a simplistic approach to photography.
Once Marcopoulos moved to New York City, he began to photograph the locals he encountered in the street, which exposed him to the up-and-coming downtown artist and hip-hop scenes of the 1980s.
[10] Marcopoulos's best known hip-hop collaboration was shooting the cover photo for American rapper Jay-Z's twelfth studio album, Magna Carta Holy Grail in 2013.
[citation needed] In the early 1990s, Marcopulos met and befriended skaters cycling at the legendary local spot dubbed “The Banks” found underneath the Brooklyn Bridge.
He shot portraits of New York skate icons Harold Hunter and Justin Pierce, both featured in Larry Clark's 1995 coming-of-age film Kids.
They were just living their own life without their parents around – a community of people living and working together and seeing each other in different places.”[14] Marcopoulos has published over 200 books and limited edition zines as well as books in collaboration with artists like Fumes with Matthew Barney, an in-depth look at Barney's studio process captured through photographs shot over the course of four years and "the Ecstasy of St. Kara" with Kara Walker.
[15][16] In 2019, Marcopoulos continued his collaboration with Gucci with his book Dapper Dan's Harlem, which featured original photography of the neighborhood, as well as portraits of friends of Gucci and Dapper Dan, including director and designer Trevor Andrew, artist and author Cleo Wade, restaurateur and chef Marcus Samuelsson, and businessman and author Steve Stoute.