John Coplans

John Coplans (1920-2003) was a British artist and photographer who emigrated to the United States in 1960 and had many exhibitions in Europe and North America. He was on the editorial staff of Artforum from 1962 to 1971, and took over as editor-in-chief of the magazine from 1971 to 1977. He was the director of several museums including the Akron Art Museum, Ohio. In 1980 he moved to New York where he began concentrating on photography.

Coplans is most famous for his series of black and white self-portraits which act as a frank study of the naked, aging body. He unceremonously photographed his body section by section from the base of his foot to the wrinkles on his hand. The result of thirteen years of work, from 1984 to 1997, was a beautiful poetic portrait of a man as body, each shot becoming part of the artists history.

External links

• artnet
• artists.org
• Getty museum