Administrative/Biographical Note
"Dakar, Senegal, 2000-2002"" Inkjet print. Kerry Coppin Collection, UMBC (Coll355) Kerry Stuart Coppin, a.k.a Olufemi (born Peekskill, NY, May 22, 1953-died Providence,
RI,April 17th, 2022) was a fine art photographer and teacher who received numerous
fellowships, awards, and was widely exhibited both in the United States and abroad.
Born in Peekskill, NY and raised in the South Bronx, NY, Coppin attended The High
School of Arts and Design. He was a graduate of Rochester Institute of Technology
(BFA 1975). He received an MFA in Photography from The Rhode Island School of Design
in 1977 where he was the student of Ray Metzker, Harry Callahan, and Aaron Siskind.
As a professor of photography, Coppin taught at Columbia College in Chicago, University
of Maryland, University of Hawaii, Rochester Institute of Technology (tenured), Kansas
State University, University of Miami, and lastly at Brown University. Working in
a documentary style, Coppin’s photographs address issues of African American cultural
identity and community. Coppin photographed the complexities of African and African
American experience in cities and rural areas across the United States, Cuba, Senegal,
and Egypt. His photographs are included in the permanent collections of: The African
American Museum in Philadelphia, The Art Institute of Chicago, Bibliothèque nationale
de France, The Brooklyn Museum of Art, Charles H. Wright Museum of African American
History in Detroit, Museo Francisco Manuel Oller y Cestero in Puerto Rico, The Museum
of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, and the National Museum of American Art at
the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C.
Scope & Content
Arrangement
Collection is unprocessed but box level inventory is available.
Provenance Information
Provenance and Acquisition Information
Accession MSS2024-04.
Processing Note
This collection was transferred to UMBC Special Collections in May 2024 by Lisa Limer.
Descriptive Rules Used
Describing Archives: a Content Standard (DACS)
Archives Processing Manual: Description (2015): The processing manual used in Special Collections for all descriptive platforms, including
PastPerfect.
Access & Use
Finding Aids
Finding Aid available.
Access Conditions
Materials are available for research. There are no restrictions.
Conditions Governing Reproductions and Use
Reproductions allowed for research purposes. UMBC is the copyright owner; permission
to reproduce is required.
