Yousuf Karsh
1908 - 2002
Home page: http://www.karsh.org
Archive contact: Julie Grahame 917-361-9791
Yousuf Karsh (b. December 23, 1908 - d. July 13, 2002) Born in Mardin, Armenia Yousuf Karsh grew up under the horrors of the Armenian massacres. In 1924 he was brought to Sherbrooke, Quebec, by his uncle George Nakash. Instead of studying medicine, as he had originally thought he would, Karsh was introduced to photography. Karsh said "While at first I did not realize it, everything connected with the art of photography captivated my interest and energy..." By 1926 Karsh was apprenticed to John H. Garo of Boston, a fellow Armenian and one of America's top portrait photographers at the time, of whom Karsh said "Garo taught me to see, and to remember what I saw."
By 1931 Karsh had returned to Canada and set up his own studio in Ottawa. He soon met the editor of Saturday Night magazine and his photographs were reproduced for the first time. A close relationship with the members of the Ottawa Little Theatre gave Karsh the opportunity to learn about lighting (Garo worked exclusively by daylight) and Karsh became a master.
Karsh was soon to become friends with Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King who arranged for him to make the famous photograph of Winston Churchill in 1941 - now thought to be among the world's most reproduced images. One might say that the rest is history. In the International Who's Who of 2000, which listed the most notable people of the last century, Karsh was the only Canadian of the 100 famous people listed - 51 of whom Karsh had photographed. Mrs Estrellita Karsh and the Karsh curator, Jerry Fielder, endow and exhibit Karsh prints worldwide and licensing of the archive keeps the body of work in the public eye.
Images, video clips, publications, awards, and more information about the Karsh centenary events can be found at http://karsh.org.