Background
Yousuf Karsh was born on December 23, 1908 in Mardin, Armenia (now Mardin, Armenia-in-Turkey). He was the son of Amsih and Bahia Karsh.
2017
A bust of Karsh, a gift from Armenia, unveiled before Château Laurier, Ottawa in 2017.
(His 1941 photo of Winston Churchill, the British Prime Mi...)
His 1941 photo of Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister, brought him prominence. The photo was taken on December 30, 1941 in the chamber of the Speaker of the House of Commons in the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa after Churchill delivered a speech on World War II to the Canadian members of the parliament. It was arranged by Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King. Churchill is particularly noted for his posture and facial expression, which have been compared to the wartime feelings that prevailed in the UK: persistence in the face of an all-conquering enemy. The photo session was short and, just before exposure, Karsh moved towards Churchill and removed the cigar which he had in his hand. Churchill was miffed and showed his displeasure in the portrait. The photo, which according to The Economist is the "most reproduced portrait in the history of photography", has been described as one of the "most iconic portraits ever shot". USC Fisher Museum of Art described it as a "defiant and scowling portrait [which] became an instant icon of Britain's stand against fascism." It appeared on the cover of the May 21, 1945 issue of Life, which bought it for $100.
1941
Yousuf Karsh was born on December 23, 1908 in Mardin, Armenia (now Mardin, Armenia-in-Turkey). He was the son of Amsih and Bahia Karsh.
From 1928 to 1931, Yousuf Karsh apprenticed in Boston, Massachusetts for John H. Garo, the most prominent Armenian photographer in America at the time who had made a name for himself photographing Boston celebrities.
Yousuf Karsh settled in Ottawa and opened his first studio in 1932. He remained there until 1972, when he moved to Château Laurier. He achieved initial success by capturing the attention of Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King, who helped Karsh arrange photography sessions with visiting dignitaries.
During World War II, Yousuf Karsh photographed political and military leaders and began capturing photos of writers, actors, artists, musicians, scientists, and celebrities in the post-war period. Besides portraits of the famous, he photographed assembly line workers in Windsor, Ontario, commissioned by the Ford Motor Company of Canada. He also photographed landscapes of Rome and the Holy Land to be included in books in collaboration with Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, an annual poster for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, and other works. Yousuf Karsh was a visiting professor at Ohio University and at Emerson College in Boston.
Yousuf Karsh retired in July 1993, aged 84. He died on July 13, 2002 at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston after complications following surgery. A private funeral was held in Ottawa. He was interred in Notre-Dame Cemetery in Ottawa.
Quotations:
"I am working with the world's most remarkable cross-section of people. I do believe it's the minority who make the world go around, not the majority."
"I do it for my own immortality."
Karsh's first marriage was to Solange Gauthier (1902-1961) in 1939. He met her at the Ottawa Little Theatre in 1933, where she was a star. She was born in Tours, France and migrated to Canada as a young girl. They initially moved into her apartment and in 1940, into an Art Deco home called Little Wings on the Rideau River just outside Ottawa. She died in January 1961 of cancer.
His second marriage was to Estrellita Maria Nachbar, a medical writer 21 years his junior, in August 1962. Their wedding was officiated by Fulton J. Sheen, Auxiliary Bishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of New York. From 1972 to 1992 they lived in a third-floor suite at Château Laurier, Ottawa and maintained Little Wings and an apartment and studio in Manhattan. They had no children.