Yousuf Karsh (1908-2002)

1. Yousuf Karsh (1908-2002)

2. Early Life • Born Dec 23, 1908 (Mardin, Armenia) • His father was an uneducated man but sold beautiful and rare things. • His mother was educated and would lose herself in the Bible. She was a generous woman who did not believe in hate. • Yousuf was the eldest of three brothers and a sister who passed away. “My recollection of those days compromise a strange mixture of blood and beauty, of persecution and peace.” –Yousuf Karsh The life for Yousuf Karsh and his family was difficult in Syria. A daily struggle for food and no justice. • Yousuf Karsh and his family were allowed to flee in 1922 but they were not allowed to take their things with them. • Yousuf left Syria in 1925 and arrived in Canada with his mother’s brother. The trip took 29 days

3. Early Life (Part 2) • When Yousuf Karsh arrived in Canada, the high school he attended didn’t know where to place an Armenian 17 year old boy who didn’t speak English and wanted to be a Doctor. • In his hometown the kid’s were mean and would be aggressive with him. They would steal his toys and hurt him. In Canada people would play with him and let him keep his toys. Yousuf Karsh liked this. • In 1926 Yousuf started working at his uncle’s photography studio where his uncle gave him a small camera. • It was with that small camera that he took his first photograph that got recognized (Image on the left). He gave this picture to a friend as a gift and that friend entered it in a contest. To his surprise he won, the prize was 50 dollars. He gave 10 dollars to his friend and the rest he sent to his family. • This picture seems almost like a painting or a drawing. You find rule of thirds, leading lines and the lighting moves the focus of the picture to the correct place.

4. Garo • Karsh’s uncle introduced him to John H. Garo from Boston (Armenian photographer). Karsh spent 3 years with Garo when originally it was only going to be 6 months. Garo was a wise friend who encouraged him to take art classes and study photography. • Garo taught Karsh to see things and not forget them • When Karsh started his own studio in Ottawa, Garo passed away. (1939)

5. Winston Churchill (1941) Yousuf Karsh photographed Winston Churchill in Ottawa after he was invited to be present. Karsh took these photographs inside the building where Churchill was speaking. Churchill was not informed he would be photographed and allowed Karsh to take one picture. Karsh did not want to photograph Churchill while he had a cigar in his mouth so Karsh took out the cigar from his mouth. When Karsh got back to his camera he immediately took the picture (top picture on the left). That photograph became one of the most reproduced images in the history of photography. This image is so powerful and at the moment Karsh took this image they both knew it would be amazing, so Churchill allowed Karsh to take one more (bottom left). I chose this image because Karsh captured real and true emotion in both images. Not only was this one of Karsh’s most famous photographs but he knew, the instant he took this picture, it would be an important picture, and that’s how it turned out to be.

6. Pablo Picasso (1954) When Karsh showed up to photograph Picasso in Vallauris everyone said he would not show up. According to the gallery owner Picasso would never show up to meetings and if he did he would not dress properly. When Picasso actually showed up everyone was amazed. He even wore a shirt. Karsh photographed Picasso inside the ceramic art gallery in Vallauris. In this photograph you find Picasso posing next to a piece of art. The main focus of this image is the art and the artist. When you look at the image your eyes are automatically drawn to the art piece but then after a while your focus changes to the artist. I chose this image because it’s so simple yet so powerful. The background, the foreground and everything else in this photograph makes it amazing.

7. Pablo Casals (1954) • “For me, the bare room conveys the loneliness of the artist, at the pinnacle of his art, and also the loneliness of exile.” –Yousuf Karsh This was the first time Karsh photographed someone with their backs turned to the camera. Yousuf Karsh said he felt extremely comfortable the day this picture was taken. He used the lighting of the room to give this image a lot more meaning then just a man sitting in a room playing the cello (quote above). The light is coming from a window up on the right corner that is barely visible. For Karsh this image was a lot more, he felt a personal connection to the artwork. In this image you find a leading line on the right side of the image from a thick part of the wall. It almost seems like you could touch the wall in the background. I chose this image because it has a natural beauty that I like very much. When I see this image I can hear an orchestra playing in my head. I chose it because I feel happy when I see it and ultimately happiness is all that matters.

8. Citations • http://www.karsh.org/#/the_man/home