Studio 54

[Pop Culture] [Archives] William Coupon (photographer)
Studio 54, Andy Warhol, Truman Capote, Grace Jones, Patti Smith, Divine

N.p. N.p., 1978. Archive of 14 iconic vintage photographs of Studio 54 celebrities and revelers by photographer William Coupon, all from 1978. Ten of these are signed and dated by Coupon at the bottom right, and one bears a tag on the verso, noting, “Two Dancers, Studio 54, August, 1978.”

Images of Andy Warhol, Truman Capote, Grace Jones, Patti Smith, and Divine are included in the collection, along with a variety of other glamorous and fascinating visitors to the exclusive New York night club.

Coupon’s Studio 54 photographs were included in the International Center of Photography exhibition "Fleeting Gestures: Treasures of Dance Photography" in late 1978, his first major exhibition. The photographs in this collection were exhibited at Photo London 2019 and on display at Tenderbooks in London in conjunction with Rare Photo Gallery in Toronto.

Coupon was born in New York City, and after attending Syracuse University returned there in 1978. He began to photograph the disco/celebrity scene at Studio 54 and the punk/New Wave scene at the Mudd Clubb in lower Manhattan. During this time he also became a successful commercial photographer, working for a variety of international magazines, record companies, and advertising agencies.
In the 1980s and 1990s Coupon did several series on various sub-cultures and indigenous peoples that he called “Social Studies.” In 1992 he was invited to photograph the world’s tribal leaders during Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The work, at the request of the United Nations and the United States Congress, was exhibited in 1994 in the United States Senate Rotunda as part of the UN’s "Year of the Indigenous People."

Coupon’s vast catalog of portraits include world leaders, noted writers, artists, and musicians, as well as his highly regarded indigenous portraits. He has photographed covers for Newsweek, Rolling Stone, and the New York Times Sunday Magazine as well as assignments for Esquire, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, People, and many more. He photographed 15 covers for Time magazine, including the Bill Clinton and George W. Bush “Person of the Year” covers and has photographed all of the Presidents of the United States from Richard Nixon going forward.

8 x 10 inches, archivally matted to 16 x 20 inches. Near Fine overall.


[Book #146130]