Kerry Coppin Collection

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Overview

Title:Kerry Coppin Collection
Call Number:Coll355
Creator:Coppin Kerry Stuart (1953-2022)
Dates:1953-2022
Size:23 boxes and 17 oversized framed works
Abstract:The Kerry Coppin collection consists of original film negatives, digital image and text files, photographic prints, and personal papers produced by and pertaining to the career of photographer and teacher Kerry Stuart Coppin, a.k.a Olufemi.
Citation:Kerry Coppin collection, Collection 355, Special Collections, University of Maryland, Baltimore County (Baltimore, MD).

Administrative/Biographical Note

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

Collection is unprocessed but box level inventory is available.

Provenance Information

Accession MSS2024-04.

This collection was transferred to UMBC Special Collections in May 2024 by Lisa Limer.

Access & Use

Materials are available for research. There are no restrictions.

Reproductions allowed for research purposes. UMBC is the copyright owner; permission to reproduce is required.