Maxwell Frederic Coplan

Maxwell Frederic Coplan (February 13, 1912 – July 1, 1985) was an American photographer. His subjects included Bob Dylan, Alfred Hitchcock, Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, Arthur Miller and Marilyn Monroe, as well as many other noted public figures of his time.

His work appeared in the pages and covers of Cosmopolitan, Life and Time Magazine among others.

Maxwell married Alice Coplan and they had two daughters, Nancy & Connie. He is survived by his daughters and three grandchildren, David Coplan Schneider, Scott Coplan Schneider and Catie Coplan Cannon. Maxwell trained his grandson, David Coplan Schneider in photography from the age of five. David currently resides in Larchmont, NY and runs the award-winning photography and cinematography studio Dideo Films Photography[1] with his wife, Danielle.

Maxwell Frederic Coplan spent much time traveling with and capturing the Big Top Circus, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, often shooting with a Rolleiflex camera. Here's an excerpt from his book on the Circus, Pink Lemonade

"When Maxwell Coplan clicks his camera under "the big top" he gets as great a thrill as the kid who carries water for the elephants. In fact, the circus was responsible for his photographic career. Following his graduation from the Pennsylvania Museum's School of Industrial Art in Philadelphia, where he had been a scholarship student, he was commissioned to do a painting on a circus subject - just one day before the circus was to leave town.

Working against time, he borrowed a friend's camera and took several pictures of the circus under the friend's direction. He thumbtacked the best one alongside his easel and referred to it for detail. When his client came to see the work, he looked first at the painting, then at the photograph then at Coplan, and said, "We'll take the photograph instead of the painting - and we'll pay you the same price!"

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