Yousuf
Karsh (1908 - 2002)
A brief biography by Dirk
Heinze
 "When
the famous start thinking of immortality, they call for Karsh of
Ottawa."
A
sixteen-year-old Yousuf Karsh came to Canada in 1924 to escape the
Armenian massacres. An apprenticeship with portrait photographer
John H. Garo took him to Boston and, in 1932, Karsh returned to
Canada to set up his own studio on Sparks Street in Ottawa. It was
there that he was discovered by Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie
King who arranged introductions to foreign dignitaries.
Karsh's
legendary place in portraiture was cemented in 1941 when he photographed
Winston Churchill following his address to the Canadian House of
Commons. Churchill was being whisked from the Commons when he was
informed that he was to have his picture taken. Churchill asked,
"Why have I not been told?" and defiantly lit up a cigar.
Karsh assured him it would only take a moment. Karsh then snatched
Churchill's cigar from his lips, and while Churchill glowered, Karsh
snapped what has become most the reproduced image in portrait photography.
This photograph was eventually sold to Life magazine for one hundred
dollars. Many more magazine covers were to follow as, through the
decades, Karsh snapped the faces of great leaders, writers and artists
including the likes of  Albert
Einstein, Andy Warhol, Audrey Hepburn, Ernest Hemingway, Fidel Castro,
Frank Lloyd Wright, George Bernard Shaw, Grey Owl, Helen Keller,
Humphrey Bogart, Indira Gandhi, John F. Kennedy, Muhammad Ali, Pablo
Picasso, Pierre Elliot Trudeau and countless others. Karsh's greatest
skill was his ability to capture the essence of a character.
"My
chief joy is to photograph the great in heart, in mind, and in spirit,
whether they be famous or humble," said Karsh, and for decades
he continued at his masterly craft, garnering awards and commendations,
among them The Order of Canada. Karsh's studio at the Chateau Laurier
Hotel in Ottawa closed in 1992. However, Karsh continued to lecture
and write. He moved to Boston in his early nineties and died there
in 2002. His photographs now hang in international museums and galleries
including: The National Gallery of Canada; New York's Museum of
Modern Art; and the National Portrait Gallery in London. His photographs
also come up regularly at auction commending substantial figures,
for instance, the Churchill photograph he sold for a hundred dollars
now realizes between eight to ten thousand dollars.
Photos
courtesy of The
Sherman Hines Photography Museum.
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