Yousuf Karsh

Yousuf Karsh, 1908-2002,  was born in Marden, during the Armenian Genocide

"I saw relatives massacred; my sister died of starvation as we were driven from village to village."

Parents moved him in with his uncle in Canada. His uncle was a photographer and Yousuf learned a lot from his time with him. He took on an apprenticeship and eventually became head of a studio in Ontario

Ernest Hemingway for Wisdom magazine, June 1958 – Yousuf Karsh

Karsh was said to be a master of lights. Karsh states in one of his published books

"Within every man and woman a secret is hidden, and as a photographer it is my task to reveal it if I can. The revelation, if it comes at all, will come in a small fraction of a second with an unconscious gesture, a gleam of the eye, a brief lifting of the mask that all humans wear to conceal their innermost selves from the world. In that fleeting interval of opportunity the photographer must act or lose his prize."

He has photographed many famous people such as Muhammad Ali, Audrey Hepburn, Andy Warhol and many others. Over a dozen books have been published of his photographs and his work is seen in museums and galleries throughout the world.

Karsh uses light and refraction to breathe life into his subjects. H doesn’t try to make his subjects look pretty or like someone they are not. He is just making the most of the contours of the physical l appearance like a landscape.

 Winston Churchill for Life Magazine, May 1941 - Yousuf Karsh

Jean Sibelius, 1949 – Yousuf Karsh (Haynes Galleries)

 Mohammad Ali, 1970 – Yousuf Karsh (Haynes Galleries)