Yousuf karsh biography. Yousuf Karsh: The Master of Portrait Photography 2022-10-22

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Yousuf Karsh was a renowned portrait photographer who was born in Mardin, a city in the Ottoman Empire (present-day Turkey), on December 23, 1908. He immigrated to Canada with his family at the age of sixteen and later studied photography at the New School of Photography in Boston.

Karsh's career as a portrait photographer began in the 1930s, when he worked as an assistant to portrait photographer John Garo in Boston. In 1932, Karsh moved to Ottawa, Canada, where he opened his own studio. Over the course of his career, Karsh photographed some of the most famous and influential people of the 20th century, including Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill, and Marilyn Monroe.

One of Karsh's most famous photographs is of Churchill, which he took in 1941 during World War II. The photograph captures Churchill's determined and resolute expression and has become one of the most iconic images of the British statesman. Karsh's portrait of Einstein, taken in 1948, is another well-known photograph and captures the scientist's contemplative and intellectual nature.

Karsh's portraits were known for their ability to capture the essence and character of his subjects. He achieved this through the use of dramatic lighting and careful posing, as well as his ability to connect with his subjects and put them at ease during the photograph session.

In addition to his portrait photography, Karsh also worked on documentary and fine art photography projects throughout his career. He traveled extensively and documented the people and cultures of various countries, including the Middle East, India, and the Soviet Union.

Karsh received numerous awards and accolades for his work, including the Royal Photographic Society's Gold Medal and the Order of Canada. He was also the recipient of numerous honorary degrees and was inducted into the International Photography Hall of Fame in 1989.

Yousuf Karsh passed away on July 13, 2002, at the age of 93. His legacy as a portrait photographer lives on through his iconic images and his influence on the art of portrait photography.

Yousuf Karsh Biography

yousuf karsh biography

Our apartment is close to the Public Garden, the Museum of Fine Arts, and Symphony Hall. The revelation may come in a fraction of a second in the form of an unconscious gesture, a gleam of the eye. Moods could be created, selected, modified, intensified. We had to leave our doors open β€” with us we took no baggage, only our lives. Only those who have seen their savings and possessions of a lifetime destroyed can understand how great were the spiritual resources upon which my father must have drawn. Mary Alderman, my secretary, with the seeming effortlessness that is the hallmark of a true professional, handled day-to-day studio operations for twenty years.

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Yousuf Karsh

yousuf karsh biography

While at first I did not realize it, everything connected with the art of photography captivated my interest and energy β€” it was to be not only my livelihood but my continuing passion. The premature deaths of many of these young people serve as a spur to medical researchers to try to eradicate all forms of crippling diseases. It took its name from the fact that the gently rolling property was on a bird migratory route and we logged many birds each year. Close to the spots were two stands, which supported handmade, black cardboard cards. To make a significant photo of someone, you have to know a great deal about them β€”their accomplishments, mission in life, or contribution to their fellow man. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia.

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Yousuf Karsh Biography, Age, Height, Wife, Net Worth, Family

yousuf karsh biography

In 1922, our family was allowed to flee. . He would then test the lighting setup, with his assistant standing in as the subject. Karsh himself was the only Canadian to make the list. It has kept me young in heart, adventurous, forever seeking, and always aware that the heart and mind are the true lens of the camera.

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A Brief Biography

yousuf karsh biography

Karsh was awarded the Presidential Citation U. Physical Status Height Not Available Weight Not Available Body Measurements Not Available Eye Color Not Available Hair Color Not Available Who Is Yousuf Karsh's Wife? His work is represented in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Philadelphia Art Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, the National Gallery of Canada,- the National Portrait Gallery, London, and other leading museums. I was thrilled by this means of expression, this method of interpreting life; a new world was opened to me. When it came to working with negatives, he used specialist chemicals that allowed a faint green light to reveal the deepening densities so he could judge each one individually. His first major commission came from the Governor-General and Countess of Bessborough, who he first met at the Little Theatre. With her editorial ability Estrellita helped me to formulate my thoughts. Karsh always placed two lights behind his subject on both sides β€” to act as either fill or rim lights β€” which resulted in light bouncing off the side of the subjects face and towards the camera.

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Yousuf Karsh Biography

yousuf karsh biography

Something more important than my introduction to incandescent lighting came out of the Little Theatre. I was that boy. Estate of Yousuf Karsh. Estate of Yousuf Karsh. In wartime London, as I photographed one exhilarating personality after another β€” among them George Bernard Shaw, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the British royal family β€” I felt once again the excitement of my apprenticeship days in Boston, drinking in the conversation of Garo and his colleagues. Toronto: Art Canada Institute.

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Yousuf Karsh: The Master of Portrait Photography

yousuf karsh biography

Over the years our relationship with these remarkable young people has been close and meaningful. Although many times, he would use both on the same photograph β€” one to bathe the print and the other applied carefully in specific areas with a cotton bud. Garo of Boston, a fellow Armenian, who was recognized as the outstanding portraitist in the eastern states. The sparkling decorations on the windows of shops and houses, the laughing crowds β€” for me it was an unbelievable fantasy come true. Jerry Fielder, fromKarsh: Beyond the Camera After his initial test, Karsh would re-arrange the lights. His photographic equipment was donated to Ottawa's Museum of Science and Technology. She has continued to write articles on medical history.

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Biography: Portrait photographer Yousuf Karsh

yousuf karsh biography

It should be the aim of every photographer to make a single exposure that shows everything about the subject. He received numerous honors and awards in his life including the Canada Council Medal 1965 , Officer of the Order of Canada 1967 , Medal of Service of the Order of Canada 1968 , Honorary Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society 1970 , United States Presidential Citation 1971 Gold Medal of the National Association of Photographic Art 1974 , Achievement and Life Award, Encyclopedia Brittanica 1980 and Companion of the Order of Canada 1990. One of the leading actors at the Little Theatre was Lord Duncannon, the handsome twenty-one-year-old son of the then Governor General, Lord Bessborough, and Lady Bessborough, who were themselves avidly interested in stage production and had a miniature theater in their own castle in Scotland. We may never be able to pay directly for the gifts of true friendship β€” but pay we must, even though we make our payment to someone who owes us nothing, in some other place and at some other time. There I set my heart on photographing those men and women who leave their mark on the world. Many of his great portraits can be viewed on the official Yousuf Karsh website. One aspect of Karsh's portrait is the emphasis on the lighting the subject's hands separately.

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yousuf karsh biography

Retrieved February 7, 2021. Early in our marriage I began to photograph, as my contribution, the National Poster Children of the Muscular Dystrophy Association. He initially undercut his competitors, charging one dollar for a finished print with his much of his early work mainly consisting of passport photos, family portraits, business events, and weddings. Running water, to me, is still a great blessing. My mother herself seemed tireless. It was the bitterest of ironies that Mardin, whose tiers of rising buildings were said to resemble the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, and whose succulent fruits convinced its inhabitants it was the original Garden of Eden, should have been the scene of the Turkish atrocities against the Armenians in 1915.

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yousuf karsh biography

My youngest brother, Salim, born later in Aleppo, Syria, alone escaped the persecution soon to reach its climax in our birthplace. After barely six months of high school, Karsh left formal education and began working full-time with his uncle, providing him with income to support his family back in Syria. These three elements would become key to his work. The search for greatness of spirit has compelled me to work harder β€” to strive for perfection, knowing it to be unattainable. Uncle Nakash was a photographer of established reputation, still a bachelor when I went to live with him, and a man of generous heart. In this new situation, instructions about lighting effects were given by the director; he could command the lighting to do what he wished. My first glimpse of the New World on a steely cold, sunny winter day was the Halifax wharf, covered with snow.

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yousuf karsh biography

I remember finding brief solace in my young cousin relating her Thousand and One Nights tales of fantastic ships and voyages and faraway people, and always, solace in the example of my mother, who taught me not to hate, even as the oppression continued. We went up from the dock to the station in a taxi, the likes of which I had never seen β€” a sleigh-taxi drawn by horses. The bells on their harnesses never stopped jingling; the bells of the city rang joyously to mark a new year. One of three brothers and sisters, he boasted a distinguished lineage, having been born in the house of an American Secretary of State. Karsh returned to Canada four years later, eager to make his mark. Elle laisse dans le deuil outre son Γ©poux, ses fils, MM. To my amazement, it won first prize, the then munificent sum of fifty dollars.

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