By Chris Murray

Portrait photographer William Coupon just passed on. He had his first exhibition, William Coupon: Photographs, at Govinda Gallery in the spring of 2005. That exhibition featured portraits of Miles Davis, Bette Midler, Alicia Keys, Andy Warhol, Floyd Mayweather, Laurie Anderson, Public Enemy and many more. His portrait of Mick Jagger was featured in my book Rolling Stones 50×20 (Insight Editions).

Coupon organized a mobile portable studio, which he used to document global cultures. His photographs of indigenous people included projects with Australian aboriginals, Native Americans, Scandinavian Laplanders, Moroccan Berbers, Spanish Gypsies, and Panamanian Cuna among others. Coupon was invited to photograph the world’s tribal leaders during the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janiero, Brazil.

William photographed every President of the United States since Richard Nixon up to George W Bush and his work has appeared on fifteen TIME magazine covers.

William’s photographs will be remembered as an important cultural document of our times. I am glad to have hosted his first exhibition, and to have become his friend.