William Oran Gibson

William Oran Gibson of New York, N.Y. photographer and performance artist, died Nov. 1, 2012, from cancer, at his home in New York City. He was born April 12, 1961, in Greenville, Miss., son of the late Mr. & Mrs. Charles Clifford Gibson Jr., of Jerome, Ark. William Gibson was assistant and colleague to the New York City theatre photographer Martha Swope for more than 20 years. Among many productions, Gibson made the first production photographs of the world premiere of Larry Kramer's play "The Normal Heart." A large number of his theatre photographs appear in Broadway Day and Night [Simon & Schuster, 1992]. He had also photographed Oprah Winfrey, as well as Presidents Bush and Reagan with their wives. As an active performance artist in the 1990s in New York, Gibson originated the narrator's role in the stage premiere of "My Manuscript" by David Sedaris. He also headlined his own original performances at The Public Theatre, Dixon Place, P.S. 122, Here and other venues in New York. Gibson interned with Diana Vreeland at The Metropolitan Museum Costume Institute. He also interned at the Cooper-Hewitt National Museum of Design, The Guggenheim Museum New York and The Guggenheim Collection, Venice. He was a graduate of the University of Arkansas, Little Rock, and studied for his masters degree at NYU with Richard Prince, Louise Lawler, Barbara Kruger and Dale McConathy, among others. He was a longtime volunteer for The Actor's Fund as well as an early and dedicated member of ACTUP (The AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power). He was a long-term survivor of HIV disease and contributed to several critical studies in the field. William Gibson is survived by his partner Jeffrey Scott Jaech of New York City. He is also survived by his siblings: Margaret Ann Gibson Niven, Dermott, Ark., Charles Clifford Gibson III, Monticello, Ark., Helen Marie Gibson Burks, Vicksburg, Miss., and John Robert Gibson, New York City. He was the uncle of J.R. Burks, Joy Sims and Chad Gibson. He is also survived by a large family of friends in New York, Arkansas and Europe, including his close collaborator Matthew McClendon. Services will be held in New York, Thursday, Nov. 8, at 1:30 p.m., at Frank E. Campbell Funeral Home, 1076 Madison Avenue at 81st Street. His ashes will be interred in Dermott, Ark., at a date in the near future still to be determined. Memorials may be made in the name of William Gibson to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, 165 W. 46th Street, No. 1300, New York, New York 10036.