Yousuf Karsh Research Paper

Yousuf Karsh’s breath taking glimpses of public figures made him one of the top, most famous portrait photographers of the 20th century. Karsh along with his family fled their hometown Amenia when he was only 15 years old. He ended up in the capital of Canada, Ottawa, Where he learned photography through his uncle. He gained access to outstanding national and international figures, right before the terrible World War II began. He worked with mostly with black and white portraits using a large 8x10 camera view. He often spent time with his clients before the photoshoot to get to know their characters. Then at the time of the photoshoot he waited for a precise moment catching his subjects in surprising intimate moments.
Yousuf Karsh took many …show more content…
Karsh in 1935 was named the official portrait photographer of the Canadian government. He was often called on to photograph Canadian leaders and visiting statesman. Karsh would typically research his subjects lives and accomplishments.Karsh had already won a wide approval in the Canadian Capital, however, his first international attention happened in 1941 for his portrait of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Churchill was briefly visiting Ottawa when he unenthusiastically agreed to sit for Karsh. He would only agree to give Karsh two minutes. With that warning Churchill lit up one of his cigars. Not many seconds later, Karsh quickly captured the picture of Churchills cigars to his lips. The result from this photo showed a somewhat petulant Churchill scowling into the camera, which was later sold to Life magazine for 100$. After time it eventually became the most reproduced portrait in the history of photography. This portrait established the reputation of Karsh as a world class portrait photographer. Not to long after, the Canadian government asked him to travel to England to shoot a series of photographs of the British military leaders. Also Life magazine commissioned him to do similar shots of the American wartime leaders. The wide spread of Churchill’s portrait created a big change for Karsh. He no longer had to search for subjects, they …show more content…
One of the most notable parts about Karsh unique style was his use of light to model his subject’s faces in what was almost a sculptural fashion. Karsh portraits are always shot against a simple background, typically black, and never used any props or decoration because they might take attention away from the main subject in the portrait.Karsh used dramatic lighting to meticulously model his subject faces and expressions, so there are holding a monumental and ideal presentation that helped promote their public image. Although some of Karsh detractors complained that his portraits failed to capture the essence of his subject, his supporter pointed out that Karsh’s primary goal was the visual idealization of the legend and public images of those Karsh