Yousuf Karsh

The exhibit, which can be seen February 10 - 26, follows a chronological perspective of Karsh's portraits from the 1940's through the 1980's. The exhibit features over 80 portraits of political leaders, artists, celebrities and religious figures. Sir Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, a few of the faces that have been seen through the lens of photographer Yousuf Karsh.

Karsh himself has been profiled in international nations and a full-length feature film. He has traveled the world photographing his subjects in their own environments, and has numerous acclaims and awards, including an appointment to the Order Of Canada (1990). He is Canadian, but his art is international.

While Karsh's reputation is that of the photographer of the famous, he himself comments, "My chief joy is to photograph-the great in heart, in mind and in spirit, whether they be famous or humble."

This exhibit is courtesy of the Government of Alberta.

Yousuf Karsh was born in Mardin, Armenia-in-Turkey, on December 23, 1908, Karsh spent his childhood under the horrors of the Armenian massacres. His uncle, Nakash, brought him to Canada in I 924. After brief schooling in Sherbrooke Quebec, Karsh studied photography for three years under John H. Garo, of Boston, Massachusetts, who was an eminent portrait photographer of the day. In 1932, Karsh opened his studio in Ottawa, Canada.

As Karsh's work became better known, members of the government and visiting statesmen came to him to be photographed. In December 1941, Winston Churchill, then Prime Minister of Great Britain, spoke before the combined Houses of the Canadian Parliament, and was afterwards photographed by Karsh. Publication of this portrait, which symbolized the indomitable spirit of the British people, brought the photographer worldwide recognition, and the Churchill portrait remains one of the most widely reproduced in the history of photography. It has been used as the basis of Churchill commemorative stamps of many countries.

Karsh traveled the world photographing his subjects in their own environment, if possible. His portable lights transformed any room--anywhere-into a studio. During the height of World War II, Karsh went to England at the request of the Canadian government, and made his first series of portraits of leading personalities, among them, George Bernard Shaw, Noel Coward, H. G. Wells, King George VI and Princess Elizabeth. Since then he has photographed the British Royal Family repeatedly; in 1967, when he made official portraits of the Queen and Prince Philip, in 1984 when he was commissioned to make official portraits for the Queen's 60th birthday and in 1987 when he took historical portraits at Balmoral when he took portraits of Queen Elizabeth, the Prince Philip and the Royal grandchildren.

Karsh portraits have appeared in publications all over the world. Karsh, himself, has been the subject of innumerable articles, not only in photographic books and journals, but also in newspapers and magazines on both sides of the Atlantic, India, the Middle East, Australia and Japan. He is Canadian, but his art is international.