{"id":2020,"date":"2017-04-20T17:45:49","date_gmt":"2017-04-20T12:45:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cgauthier.ca\/en\/?p=2020"},"modified":"2017-04-22T01:12:46","modified_gmt":"2017-04-21T20:12:46","slug":"yousuf-karsh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.cgauthier.ca\/en\/2017\/04\/20\/yousuf-karsh\/","title":{"rendered":"Yousuf Karsh, portrait photographer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yousuf Karsh (1908 – 2002) is known as the greatest portrait photographer of the 20th century; he built for himself a global reputation by taking photographs of famous personalities.<\/p>\n

Throughout his career, Karsh has done more than 15,312 photo sessions, he produced more than 150,000 negatives and left an undeniable artistic influence. He documented a great number of personalities who marked the twentieth century, often offering us a definitive image illustrating each person\u2019s personality.<\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n

\"auto

Autoportrait, Yousuf Karsh in his studio at Hotel Laurier in Ottawa<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Karsh was born in Turkey, issued from a Christian Armenian community. His family left the country in order to escape the Armenian genocide. Young Karsh immigrated to Canada alone in 1924 to join his uncle Georges Nakash, renowned portrait photographer who lived in Sherbrooke.<\/p>\n

It was there that he first developed his interest in photography. Subsequently, he moved to Boston to work as an apprentice with John Garo (1875 – 1939)<\/a>, known photographer and well recognized in the American bourgeois society. His apprenticeship was done according to the photographic practices of the nineteenth century, offering an idealized romantic vision, soft focus, a \u201ccloudy\u201d styled environment. The studio was not affected by the influence of modernist movements like the styles of Steichen<\/a>, Stieglitz, Sander and others.<\/p>\n

Since 1919, Garo was known as an artist who was able to highlight the personality of the model, through the subtlety and the effectiveness of his photographic creations. Garo taught Karsh how to observe the model according to the light, the shadows, the forms. According to Garo, the light is the main component of the creation of a portrait.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Portrait

This photo of Garo by Karsh before his departure from Boston in 1931 demonstrates the influence of his master on his own vision of photographic creation.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

He returned to Canada in 1932, moved to Ottawa and worked at John Powis\u2019 studio, on Spark Street. During the ‘Imperial Economic Conference’ in Ottawa, Karsh convinced his employer to stay put and to take advantage of the opportunity to photograph the important people that was present there. With Powis\u2019 limited means, the resulting images were of without interest.<\/p>\n

Karsh quickly decided to open his own studio in Ottawa. There he made his debut as a scene photographer and quickly became a photographer of high society whose fame would extend far beyond the limits of the Canadian capital.<\/p>\n

He began to experiment with artificial light, worked with the lighting in the theater and was impressed by the creativity of the stage directors. From 1935, Karsh demonstrated more and more solid skills in mastering the lighting. The light became the inspiration of his creativity in photography.<\/p>\n

\"Artificial

Ottawa Little Theatre, 1936 Saint-Joan<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

When the war broke out in 1939, Ottawa became a center for the activities of the allied coalition and “Karsh of Ottawa<\/strong>” became the photographer of the most important allies\u2019 leaders who visited Ottawa. He was therefore naturally chosen to do the portrait of Winston Churchill when the latter visited Canada in 1941, in the context of Canada\u2019s war effort.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

\n\n\t
\n
    \t\n\t
  • \n\t\t\n\t\t\"\"\n\t\t\n\t<\/li>\n\t\n\t
  • \n\t\t\n\t\t\"\"\n\t\t\n\t<\/li>\n\t\n\t
  • \n\t\t\n\t\t\"\"\n\t\t\n\t<\/li>\n\t\n\t
  • \n\t\t\n\t\t\"\"\n\t\t\n\t<\/li>\n\t\n\t
  • \n\t\t\n\t\t\"\"\n\t\t\n\t<\/li>\n\t\n\t
  • \n\t\t\n\t\t\"\"\n\t\t\n\t<\/li>\n\t\n\t
  • \n\t\t\n\t\t\"\"\n\t\t\n\t<\/li>\n\t\n\t
  • \n\t\t\n\t\t\"\"\n\t\t\n\t<\/li>\n\t\n\t
  • \n\t\t\n\t\t\"\"\n\t\t\n\t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n