The Art of the

Portraitist
William Coupon’s facial obsession

By Robert Kiener
IMAGES ©WILLIAM COUPON / williamcoupon.com

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In 1985 Coupon asked
Donald Trump to pose for
a Manhattan, inc. magazine
cover portrait holding a dove,
symbolizing his desire to
serve as a peace negotiator
between the Israelis
and the Palestinians,
“He agreed—grudgingly.
But then the bird pooped
all over his suit.”
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This profile of world-famous portrait photog-
rapher William Coupon could start with the bug
story. Or maybe one of the better-known anec-
dotes involving some of the famous people he’s
photographed over the past five decades. Like
the time in 1985 when he asked Donald Trump
to pose for a Manhattan, inc. magazine
cover portrait holding a dove,
symbolizing his desire to serve as a
peace negotiator between the Israelis
and the Palestinians. “He agreed—
grudgingly,” says Coupon. “But then
the bird pooped all over his suit.”
Or the time Coupon got a last-
minute assignment to photograph
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh,
in 1980. “He was not at all happy
to be there and gave me just seven
seconds. Seven! No more. But I got
the shot,” remembers Coupon. “I
even got him to smile.”
Or the time he was in Texas to
photograph then-Gov. George W.
Bush for a Time cover, one of 20 he
has done for the weekly magazine.
“Bush looked over my past work and
singled out pictures of Jimmy Carter
and Yasser Arafat, both of whom had posed with
their hands clasped under their chins. He said,
‘No way I’m posing like that,’” says Coupon. “Ten
minutes later we were finished and had a great
picture of Bush, smiling gently with his hands
clasped beneath his chin.”
No, this article starts with the bug story.
The first time I called longtime New York
City resident William Coupon, 67, at his newly
adopted home and studio in the high desert
outside Santa Fe, New Mexico, he apologized:
“Sorry, can’t talk now. I’ve just seen one of
the freakiest things I’ve ever seen in my life. I
apologize but can we talk in a bit?”
A half hour later he called back and
explained: “It was a bug. It was an unreal bug!
To be specific, it’s called a Jerusalem cricket
but is also known as ‘old bald headed man’ or
‘child of the desert’ and was once feared by the
Southwestern Indians. It’s in my front yard. It’s
several inches long and has a disproportionately
large head with a face that looks creepily
human, like a baby’s. I was fascinated and, I
admit it, a little bit scared. That face!”
All of which provided the perfect segue to
remind him how he had described his career
when he was just getting started: “I’ve long been
interested in an obsessive pursuit of the face.”
He laughed when reminded of the quote and
admitted, “Still am, I suppose. Even the faces of
bugs. Kinda’ crazy, no?”
BARE BONES PORTRAITS
Coupon’s obsession with faces has helped him
become one of photography’s most famous
portraitists. After his late 1970s photographs
of New York City-based punk counter-culture
musicians and fans at Manhattan’s Mudd Club
caught the attention of advertising and editorial
art directors, Coupon was commissioned by
magazines as diverse as Time, Rolling Stone, Forbes,
and Playboy as well as scores of corporations
including Nike, Rolex, Ford Motor Co., and
Merrill Lynch. His signature style set him apart
from competitors and kept him busy for four
decades. As he has said, “I’ve shot everyone from
presidents to prostitutes, rock stars to athletes,
authors to actors, farmers to princes, and CEOs
to surfers. It’s been too much fun to call it work.
You know they say you don’t have a job when
you love what you do.”
In addition to his editorial and commercial
work, he’s built a massive portfolio of self-
financed personal work that consists of portraits
documenting subcultures and indigenous
peoples from around the world. This collection,
which he labels “Social Studies,” include subjects
as diverse as Death Row inmates, Moroccan
Berbers, aboriginal people of Australia, Native
Americans, Malaysian Penan, Central African
pygmies, Mexican Huichol, and many more.
“Ever since I was a kid reading National Geo-
graphic, I’ve been fascinated with indigenous
peoples and exploring where and how they
live, what they think. There is so much to see,
to learn,” says Coupon. “I like the fact that
these pictures are simple, raw, and real.” His
work, both commercial and personal, has been
exhibited around the world and is in much
demand by collectors.
While Coupon’s subjects are incredibly varied,
he’s developed a look that makes his portraits
almost instantly recognizable. Some people have
described “the William Coupon style.” Notes
the writer Walter Isaacson in the foreword to
the recently published book, “William Coupon:
Portraits,” “There is a consistent and beautiful
simplicity in most of Coupon’s photographs,
which is all the more impressive because of his
wide range of subjects. ... Each one is utterly
singular, as a subject and as a personality.”
Coupon has a less elegant response to the
style question: “I like bare bones, austerity,
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 How William Coupon challenges
himself with personal work
ppmag.com/coupon-gallery
60 PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER
minimalism. You need to avoid all the
extraneous stuff you don’t need in an image. It
goes back to that idea of the pursuit of the face.”
CLASSIC BUT CONTEMPORARY
He usually poses subjects in front of his now-
famous Belgian linen and heavy cotton painted
backdrops that lend a painterly feel to his portraits.
“The backgrounds are easy to transport, and they
don’t compete with the subject,” he explains.
Most compositions are medium-shot, making
the face the most dominant feature. a full smile,” he says. “It happens when someone
Lighting, from a single large light box, is
from the left and falls across both the subject
and the backdrop, usually softening both with a
chiaroscuro effect, reminiscent of Rembrandt and
other old masters. Writes Isaacson, “Whenever I
see a William Coupon photograph, I’m reminded
of masterworks by great painters. ... The light
and shadows provide both emotional and visual
depth, while the blurring of outlines adds
elements of mystery and ambiguity to these
classic but contemporary images.”
There’s another consistency to “the William
Coupon style.” Smiles are few and far between.
“I only go for smiles in unusual situations,” he
explains. “Usually a non-smile gives me more of a
range of emotion than a smile, which is more
succinct. A lot of a person’s personality can get
lost in the smile. An ethereal gaze is more tran-
scendent.” He is, however, a fan of what he dubs
the Mona Lisa smile. “That’s more pensive than
is looking back at you. It’s like a conversation.”
Perhaps surprisingly, given his lifetime of
being commissioned to photograph the rich and
famous, he confesses that he prefers shooting
“real, ordinary” people, such as those in his
“Social Studies” portfolios, to celebrities. “I
never set out to be a celebrity photographer. I
felt those pictures would be too predictable,” he
says. “It just happened and was a way to pay the
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 bills. I’ve always preferred the spontaneity and
rawness of indigenous people. I wanted to find
the allure in the ordinary.”
Dig a little deeper and he will explain that it
can be a challenge to get celebrities to let down
their guard. “Many, because they’ve been
photographed so often and are familiar with
the dynamic of a shoot, have predetermined
positions, or what I call the ‘forced naturalism’
they fall into. They often tend to stereotype
their own appearance. It can be hard to get
them to relax, be natural and spontaneous,
especially because your time with them is often
limited.” To counteract celebrities’ tendency to
control their pose, “I just shoot fast and let them
get a bit off their guard,” he explains. “That
usually works.”
Coupon says he’s not a big banterer but
prefers to be a fly on the wall when making
portraits. “I don’t like small talk but prefer
to get right down to taking the picture.” He
occasionally poses his subjects but notes that
most celebrities don’t like much direction.
“They prefer to direct themselves.” Often
he will merely tell them, “chin down, lips
together.” Says Coupon, “It’s almost my
mantra. And it works.”

A GOOD START
As he approaches 70, Coupon explains that he
is taking a break from a busy career. He admits
that editorial and commercial work is not as
available or lucrative as it once was, but he still
looks forward to exciting assignments. He’s also
arranging more personal work. Lately, he has
been negotiating to photograph members of the
Tohono O’odham Nation, whose lands stretch
from Arizona across the border into Mexico.
Several galleries sell his work, and he’s hoping
to find a publisher for his personal work with
indigenous peoples. A British-based publisher
has also approached him to publish a collection
of Coupon’s Studio 54 photographs.
“When I was in my 20s, I said that I was setting
out to photograph everyone in the world,” says
Coupon today as he relaxes in his New Mexico
home. “I’m happy that I found a style early on,
one that is simple but is always looking for the
profound.”
He pauses, and as his face breaks into a broad
smile, adds, “You know, I may not photograph
everyone in the world but I am off to a reasonably
good start.” •

Robert Kiener is a writer in Vermont.

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