At the age of 60, John Coplans began photographing his body, often in close-up, never revealing his face. Created over a period of more than 20 years, these self-portraits detailing his nude body form a poignant study of aging. Coplans often printed his black-and-white images larger than life-size. Details of hands or feet appear monumental in nature. Flesh becomes malleable, sculptural material. His photographs have been exhibited, published and collected throughout the world. John Coplans was born in London in 1920 and was educated in England and South Africa. In addition to his practice as a visual artist, which began with abstract painting and developed much later into a passion for photography, his long career encompassed teaching, writing, curating and advocacy for contemporary art. He immigrated to the United States in 1960 and began teaching at the University of California, Berkeley. In 1962, he became a founding editor of Artforum magazine and was affiliated with the publication for 16 years. His art museum positions included senior curator of the Pasadena Art Museum from 1967-1970 and director of the Akron Art Museum from 1978-1980. Coplans authored numerous books and articles of art criticism. He received two John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation fellowships and four fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts.