Yousuf Karsh

Yousuf Karsh was a Canadian photographer of Armenian origin, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest portrait photographers of the 20th century. He was born in Mardin, Ottoman Empire, in 1908, and grew up during the Armenian genocide, witnessing the atrocities and suffering of his people. He escaped with his family to a refugee camp in Syria in 1922, and then immigrated to Canada in 1923, where he joined his uncle, a portrait photographer, in Sherbrooke, Quebec. He learned the art and craft of photography from his uncle and later from John H. Garo, a prominent Armenian photographer in Boston. He opened his own studio in Ottawa in 1932, and soon became known for his portraits of Canadian politicians and dignitaries. He achieved international fame in 1941, when he took a striking portrait of Winston Churchill, capturing his defiant and resolute expression. The portrait was widely published and circulated, and established Karsh as a master of his craft. He went on to photograph many other notable individuals, such as Albert Einstein, Ernest Hemingway, Pablo Picasso, Audrey Hepburn, Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy, and Nelson Mandela, among others. He also photographed ordinary people, such as refugees, miners, farmers, and artists, with the same respect and dignity. He used his camera as a tool to reveal the inner character and spirit of his subjects, often with a dramatic use of light and shadow. He said, "Within every man and woman a secret is hidden, and as a photographer it is my task to reveal it if I can." He published several books of his photographs, and received many honors and awards, including the Order of Canada, the Royal Photographic Society's Progress Medal, and the International Center of Photography's Master of Photography Award. He retired in 1992, and moved to Boston in 1997. He died in 2002, at the age of 93, after complications following surgery. He left behind a legacy of over 15,000 portraits, which are preserved and exhibited by various institutions, such as the National Gallery of Canada, the Library and Archives Canada, and the Karsh Center at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. He is remembered as one of the most influential and inspiring photographers of all time, who captured the essence of humanity in his images.