John Coplans (1920-2003)
Hands Holding Feet, 1985

Gelatin silver print, printed 1985, signed, titled, dated in pencil and copyright credit in pencil on the verso.

image: 11 3/8 x 16 1/4in. (29 x 41.2cm.)
sheet: 16 x 20in. (40.6 x 50.8cm.)

Coplans began photographing his naked body when he was sixty years old. Even though they are self portraits, Coplans never includes his face in his images, so that they represent a universal male body instead of a particular identity. “My photos recall memories of mankind,” he said.

The way he contorts his limbs results in a quasi-abstract form that emphasizes line and curve. By photographing his body in the later years of his life—defying the conventions of youthful beauty—Coplans confronts uncomfortable issues of ageing and frailty.

Neutral toned print on semi-gloss double weight paper with margins; small handling crease in lower left quadrant, visible in a raking light only; creasing at upper right hand corner (margins), tiny crease lower margin - none affecting the image in upper right margin edge. A beautiful print, in very good condition. Sold matted and unframed. Please see images.

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Laura Paterson

Director, Senior Specialist, Photographs

[email protected]312 280 1212

Ms. Paterson joined Hindman in 2022 and is a nearly 30-year veteran of the photography industry. She began her career in the Photographs Department at Christie’s in New York, and spent 20 years at the auction house becoming a Senior Specialist. Subsequently, she worked at Magnum Photos New York (a prestigious photojournalism collective founded by Robert Capa and Henri Cartier-Bresson in 1947) as US Cultural and Print Sales Director and Bonhams as Head of the Photographs Department. Ms. Paterson has extensive knowledge of photography from the 18th to 21st centuries, with a particular interest in works of the American West by Carleton Watkins and Ansel Adams.

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John Coplans (1920-2003) Hands Holding Feet, 1985

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John Coplans (1920-2003)
Hands Holding Feet, 1985