Yousuf Karsh is arguably one of the most important photographers of the XXth century. His rich collection of portraits that he photographed in the course of over more than 60 years represents an invaluable treasure for human history. A master of studio lightning, he defined a photographic look that withstand the sands of time and its still fresh and powerful today as it was more than 70 years ago. Like a sculptor carving in light, his portraiture work is sine qua non with the image that our mind shapes behind famous and infamous figures of the XXth century. Today, when many of the personalities he immortalized passed away, Karshs work becomes a document of history, putting a face behind the man, attesting his place in history, the totality of his work creating a visual proof of the flowing of time. Perhaps, for further generations, Karshs photography will be what Nadars photography is for us today: an amazing time period full of amazing people, yet distant enough not to comprehend it in any other terms than photographic history. For todays generation, Yousuf Karshs achievement, which consists of over 150.000 negatives, hits a central chord when we resonate with his work; it is still fresh, material, experienceable, yet, in all its veridicality - it is not anymore. Applying this pattern throughout time would yield the same conclusion every time, but in Yousufs case, this was a man born in 1908 who photographed more important people throughout the century than perhaps all his fellow photographers combined, and when his career reached its natural conclusion, there was little more that could have been said in portraiture terms about the XXth century. So, in a sense, we could say thar Yousuf Karsh ended an era, and in a way, his work served as tabula rasa for current generations to begin anew.

YOUSUF KARSH1938, Ottawa

Sir WinStOn LeOnARd SpenceR-cHURcHiLLDecember 30, 1941 - Ottawa

My portrait of Winston Churchill changed my life. I knew after I had taken it that it was an important picture, but I could hardly have dreamed that it would become one of the most widely reproduced images in the history of photography. In 1941, Churchill visited first Washington and then Ottawa. The Prime Minister, Mackenzie King, invited me to be present. After the electrifying speech, I waited in the Speakers Chamber where, the evening before, I had set up my lights and camera. The Prime Minister, arm-in-arm with Churchill and followed by his entourage, started to lead him into the room. I switched on my floodlights; a surprised Churchill growled, Whats this, whats this? No one had the courage to explain. I timorously stepped forward and said, Sir, I hope I will be fortunate enough to make a portrait worthy of this historic occasion. He glanced at me and demanded, Why was I not told? When his entourage began to laugh, this hardly helped matters for me. Churchill lit a fresh cigar, puffed at it with a mischievous air, and then magnanimously relented. You may take one. Churchills cigar was ever present. I held out an ashtray, but he would not dispose of it. I went back to my camera and made sure that everything was all right technically. I waited; he continued to chomp vigorously at his cigar. I waited. Then I stepped toward him and, without premeditation, but ever so respectfully, I said, Forgive me, sir, and plucked the cigar out of his mouth. By the time I got back to my camera, he looked so belligerent he could have devoured me. It was at that instant that I took the photograph. The silence was deafening. Then Mr. Churchill, smiling benignly, said You may take another one. He walked toward me, shook my hand, and said, You can even make a roaring lion stand still to be photographed. In my archives the photograph of Churchill is filled under The Roaring Lion.

MiSSinG:BORiS YeLtSin

LeOnidBRezHnev

MiKHAiL GORBAcHev

niKitAKHRUSHcHev

JOHn FitzGeRALd KennedY

niKitA KHRUSHcHev FideL cAStRO

ROnALd ReGAn

RicHARd nixOn

HARRY S. tRUMAn JAcqUeLine and JOHn F. KennedYdWiGHt d. eiSenHOWeR

GeRALd and BettY FORd

BiLL cLintOn

eLeAnOR ROOSeveLt JAcqUeLine KennedY

AndYWARHOL

AAROncOpLAnd

MAn RAY(EmmanuEl Radnitzky)

iGOR StRAvinSKYmarch 20th, 1956

Leopold

February 11th 1948ALBeRt einStein

At Princetons Institute for Advanced Study, I found Einstein a simple, kindly, almost childlike man, too great for any of the postures of eminence. One did not have to understand his science to feel the power of his mind or the force of his personality. He spoke sadly, yet serenely, as one who had looked into the universe, far past mankinds small affairs. When I asked him what the world would be like were another atomic bomb to be dropped, he replied wearily, Alas, we will no longer be able to hear the music of Mozart.

BeRtRAnd RUSSeLL

MicHAeL cOLLinS edWin eUGene BUzz ALdRin neiL ARMStROnG

YURiGAGARin

pABLO picASSO

The maestros villa was a photographers nightmare, with his boisterous children bicycling through vast rooms already crowded with canvases. I eagerly accepted Picassos alternate suggestion to meet later in Vallauris at his ceramic gallery. He will never be here, the gallery owner commented, when my assistant and two hundred pounds of equipment arrived. He says the same thing to every photographer. To everyones amazement, the old lion not only kept his photographic appointment with me but was prompt and wore a new shirt. He could partially view himself in my large format lens and intuitively moved to complete the composition.

FRAnK LLOYd WRiGHtMARtHA GRAHAM

I expected to meet in the author a composite of the heroes of his novels. Instead, in 1957, at his home Finca Vigia, near Havana, I found a man of peculiar gentleness, the shyest man I ever photographed - a man cruelly battered by life, but seemingly invincible. He was still suffering from the effects of a plane accident that occurred during his fourth safari to Africa. I had gone the evening before to La Floridita, Hemingways favourite bar, to do my homework and sample his favorite concoction, the daiquiri. But one can be overprepared! When, at nine the next morning, Hemingway called from the kitchen, What will you have to drink? my reply was, I thought, letter-perfect: Daiquiri, sir. Good God, Karsh, Hemingway remonstrated, at this hour of the day!

eRneStHeMinGWAY

RicHARdStRAUSSJune 24th, 1949

JeAn SiBeLiUS

I arrived at Sibeliuss home Ainola, named for his wife Aino, laden with gifts from his admirers - an inscribed manuscript from composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, a warm letter from Olin Downes, the celebrated music critic of the New York Times, a box of his favorite cigars and a bottle of old cognac from the Canadian High Commissioner in London. This last we shared with little Finnish cookies and coffee. His daughter interpreted for the straight-backed patriarch of eighty-four, although there was such a meeting of minds that words became scarcely necessary.

The structure of his face reminded me of carved granite, yet with infinite warmth and humanity. This photograph was one of the last taken. He was visibly moved as I told him how the Finnish workers, in their northern Canadian logging camps, doubled their wartime output when his Finlandia was played for them.

GeORGeeneScU

June 4th 1954

In 1999, the editors of the International Whos Who unveiled their list of the one hundred most influential people of the 20th century. Their list included prominent politicians, scientists, innovators, and artists. Yousuf Karsh was the only Canadian, and the only photographer, to make the list. It is interesting to note that he had photographed more than half of the other personalities on the list.

neLSOn ROcKeFeLLeR ALFRed HitcHcOcK iRvinG penn

peteR UStinOv JOAn BAezRUdOLF nUReYev

cARL JUnG

The Swiss psychiatrist, in his library in Zurich, agreed with the title of James Thurbers book, Let Your Mind Alone. But, he remarked, unfortunately, your mind is not discreet enough to leave you alone. I said I would make an unsatisfactory patient for the psychiatrist because I gained my happiness through my work. Ah, he answered, the secret of happiness - those who seek happiness can never find it. You should wait till it comes, like the arrival of a guest later in the evening.

dr. JOnAS SALK

Sir ALexAndeRFLeMinG

July 21st 1954

dr. JnOS (HAnS)HUGO BRUnO SeLYe

Hands ofdr. MicHAeL

eLLiS deBAKeY

dr. ALFRed BLALOcK

dr. HeLenBROOKetAUSSiG

RichaRd RodgeRs & oscaR hammeRstein1950

ceciL B. deMiLLeALFRed HitcHcOcK

cHARLtOnHeStOn

BRiGitteBARdOt

SOFiALORen

The trouble with photographing beautiful women is that you never get into the dark room until after theyve gone.

GRAce KeLLY AUdReY HepBURn

inGRid BeRGMAn eLizABetH tAYLOR

HUMpHReY BOGARt

The handsome son of a successful New York physician and his artist wife, Bogarts role model in the theater was the aristocratic Leslie Howard. As a fledgling Broadway actor, it was he who first asked that question, Tennis, anyone? But by the time I photographed him, the image of the tender-tough hero was already wrought. Bogart and his English butler had planned a thoughtful surprise to welcome me to his home: an issue of Illustrated London News opened to my portrait of King George VI.

cLARK GABLe

HenRY FOndA GReGORY pecK

peteRLORRe

BORiS KARLOFF

LAWRence OLiveR MARceL MARceAU

GRARd depARdieUALAin deLOn

cHUcK JOneS

JOAn MiR

Although he painted his inner fantasies with the brightest colors, the great Surrealist arrived at Galerie Maeght self-effacing and subdued, dressed like a banker on holiday. Only when I suggested to him that he don his work clothes did his childlike whimsy assert itself and his humor peek through.

MAx eRnSt

AnSeL AdAMS

edWARdand

JOAnnA

SteicHen

1965

ROMAn viSHniAc1971

BeAUMOnt neWHALL

JOSeF ALBeRS

JOHnAUGUStUS

nAUMGABO

GeORGiA OKeeFFe

I decided to photograph her as another friend had described her: Georgia, her pure profile calm, clear; her sleek black hair drawn swiftly back into a tight knot at the nape of her neck; the strong white hands, touching and lifting everything, even the boiled eggs, as if they were living things - sensitive slow-moving hands, coming out of the black and white, always this black and white. This portrait hangs in her Abiquiu home, now a museum operated by the Georgia OKeeffe Foundation.

JASpeR J O H n S

1990

He did not even have one of his signature American flag canvases in his midtown Manhattan apartment, so his assistant hurried to borrow one from his friend, premier art expert and dealer Leo Castelli. While I did photograph him with his painting as background, I found the penetrating intelligence of his face, alone, more of a challenge.

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GeORGe BeRnARd SHAW

Leon Edel, Henry Jamess biographer, has remarked that Shaws way of meeting people was to charm them by being charmed himself. Shaw came bursting into the room with the energy of a young man, though he was almost ninety years old. His manner, his penetrating old eyes, his flashing wit, and his bristling beard were all designed to awe me; in the beginning they succeeded. He obviously loved to act, and assumed the role of harmless Mephistopheles and devils advocate. He said I might make a good picture of him - but none as good as the picture he had seen at a recent dinner party where he glimpsed, over the shoulder of his hostess, a perfect portrait of himself: Cruel, you understand, a diabolical caricature, but absolutely true. He pushed by the lady, approached the living image, and found he was looking into a mirror! The old man peered at me quizzically to see if I appreciated his little joke. It was then that I caught him in my portrait.

HeRBeRtGeORGe

H. G.W e LLS

HeLen KeLLeR and pOLLY tHOMSOn

On first looking into her blind but seeing eyes, I said to myself of this woman who had no sight or hearing since the age of three, Her light comes from within. When we met, she placed her marvelously sensitive fingers on my face. This was, for me, an emotional experience; I sensed she already knew me. Her faithful companion, Polly Thompson, dialed Braille into her palm. Helen Kellers kindness and understanding, her alert mind, awed me. I told her this was not the first time we had met, for I knew her through her writing. Among the earliest articles I attempted to read while learning English was her How to Appreciate the Beauty of Sunset. Now, having met you in person, I said, I will no longer think of you in terms of sunset but sunrise. She quickly replied, How I wish that mankind would take the sunrise for their slogan and leave the shadows of sunset behind them.

ROBeRt FROSt WYStAn HUGH AUden

FRAnOiS cHARLeS MAURiAc

Paris was without electric power when I photographed the eminent Catholic writer. My assistant and I had valiantly climbed five endless Parisian flights of stairs with heavy equipment, in the vain hope that electricity would soon be restored. It was late in the afternoon and we would not soon have the opportunity to meet again. So, using a bed sheet borrowed from his housekeeper as a reflector, I caught his aristocratic silhouette in the available light of an open French window.

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JAcqUeLine and JOHn F. KennedY

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MOtHeRteReSA

1988

At the residence of the Archbishop of Ottawa, Mother Teresa was an honored guest. It was one stop on an exhausting fundraising tour for her order of compassionate nursing sisters, who minister to the worlds poorest and neediest. She was a diminutive, fiercely independent, single-minded whirlwind amid a sea of solicitous well-wishers who had scheduled her every moment. She declined the prepared elegant luncheon and chose instead to eat in the kitchen. Learning of our photographic session, she initially demurred, without false modesty, and then graciously agreed if it would help her order. Clearly in charge of her agenda, she countermanded yet another reception and insisted, instead, on visiting an orphanage.

neLSOnMAndeLA

In 1990 Karsh was to photograph Nelson Mandela. Mandela arrived at Karshs studio in Ottawa with only an hour of rest after his long trip from South Africa. Karsh was normally a master of establishing quick rapport with his sitters but he could see that Mandela was just plain exhausted and that getting that public mask off would be very hard at that moment.

So Karsh decided to try telling Mandela a story to warm things up. He recounted a recent session in which he photographed the Pope. While chatting, he asked him, How many people work at the Vatican?. The Pope considered the question for a moment, as if trying to formulate an accurate answer, and then replied, About half of them. For a moment Mandelas exhaustion and troubles lifted as he found the little story hilarious. Click! Karsh managed to capture the moment.

MARtinLUtHeRKinG Jr.

JAcqUeS-YveScOUSteAU

In his wetsuit, his profile reminiscent of a thirteenth-century mystic, Jacques Cousteau reminded me of a medieval seer. As I photographed this knight of the twentieth century, I was fascinated to learn about his underwater research. It is the key to human survival, Cousteau said. He warned that man is gravely endangering this vital resource. All land pollutants eventually find their way to the oceans and we risk poisoning the sea forever, just when we are learning her scenic art and philosophy, and learning to live in her embrace.

cHRiStiAn diOR

MUHAMMAd ALiborn cASSiUS MARceLLUS cLAY, Jr.

I photographed (Ali) in 1970, as part of a series of young people for Look Magazine Muhammad Ali arrived at my New York studio with a breathless young editor trailing behind. They had jogged together from the Look offices, the young editor carrying Alis heavy portable telephone which Ali said kept him in constant contact with the world. Since the editor was a slight young man, I smiled to myself as I imagined this improbable duo and the incredulous stares of the passers-by as they made their way up Madison Avenue. The Greatest and I talked about his triumphs, about patent medicine, about the commercials he was making, but there was for me no real contact. The pinstriped suit he wore for our sitting was chosen not for business but to command the respect he rightly felt he deserved.

GLenn HeRBeRt GOULd ARtHUR RUBinStein

pABLO cASALS

In the Abbey de Cuxa in Prades, I spent several glorious hours with the master of the cello. Our rapport was instantaneous - he trusted me to carry his cherished instrument. I was so moved on listening to him play Bach that I could not, for some moments, attend to photography. I have never photographed anyone, before or since, with his back turned to the camera, but it seemed to me just right. For me, the bare room conveys the loneliness of the artist, at the pinnacle of his art, and also the loneliness of exile.

Years later, when this portrait was on exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, I was told that an elderly gentleman would come and stand in front of it for many minutes each day. When the curator, by this time full of curiosity, ventured to inquire gingerly, Sir, why do you stand day after day in front of this portrait? he was met with a withering glance and the admonition, Hush, young man, hush - cant you see, I am listening to the music!

JAScHA HeiFetz

cLAUdiO ARRAU Len ALFRed deniS cORtOt

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Baron edWARd BenJAMin BRitten

GeORGe eneScU

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JOHn BiRKS dizzY GiLLeSpie

RAvi SHAnKAR

1990

1966

ALBeRt ScHWeitzeR

1955

MORe YOUSUF KARSH

dAvid SARnOFF

JeAn pAUL GettY

WARRen BUFFett

GeORGe WASHinGtOn HiLL

Sir ROBeRt ALexAndeR WAtSOn-WAtt

MARSHALL McLUHAn

cARL JUnG

GRAceKeLLY

BettY LOW1936

JOAnBAez

I photographed this rising young ballerina and actress at the beginning of her prestigious career. She went on to dance in the renowned de Basils Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, and later acted in numerous productions on the New York stage. Today, she still pursues an active career in New York. In a recent letter, she recalled for me how I improvised her turban from the window curtains, which I tore down and draped around her head and shoulders.

AnnA MAGnAni

KeRStin AnitA MARiAnne eKBeRG

MARiAn AndeRSOn

SOpHiALORen

peGGY cUMMinS SOpHiA LORen

ceciL B. deMiLLe

edWARd SteicHen MAn RAY

HenRYMOORe

ALBeRtO GiAcOMetti

Shortly before his death, I photographed a pain-wracked Giacometti surrounded by his elongated sculptures of his brother, Diego. Afterwards, in the narrow street that separated two houses, I talked quietly with Giacometti and his dealer, Pierre Matisse, the son of the famous artist. The tranquil blue sky made more poignant the transience of life. Two weeks later, Giacometti was dead.

JAcqUeS LipcHitz

SALLY RYAn

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SeRGe pOLiAKOFF

HAnSHARtUnG

iSAMU nOGUcHi

FRAnKLLOYdWRiGHt

nORMAn ROcKWeLL

RicHARd StRAUSS

GReY OWLArchibAld belAney

GeORGe BeRnARd SHAW

FideL cAStRO

I arrived in Havana on the twenty-sixth of July, Cubas national holiday, in time to hear this charismatic speaker address thousands of people in a rousing endorsement of the benefits of the Revolution. It was, for Castro, a short speech-two-and-a-half hours instead of his customary six. For the next three days, my companion and tour guide was Celia Sanchez, Cubas wiry, energetic Secretary of State. From the three sites Ms. Sanchez offered for photography, I chose a simple ceremonial room, its stark walls and bookshelves suggesting a barracks, which turned out to be Castros favorite office.

Not until an anxiety-filled hour before my scheduled departure did the Foreign Office confirm that Castro was ready. Dressed in army fatigues, looking grave and tired, Castro shook my hand warmly. Apologizing for the delay, he removed his belt and pistol and placed them beside him with a weary gesture. Our photographic session lasted three-and-a-half hours, punctuated by refreshments of Cuban rum and Coke and shared memories of the famous author and beloved former Cuban resident, Ernest Hemingway.

1971

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Karsh was born on December 23, 1908, in the Armenian enclave of Mardin, Turkey. During the years of World War I (1914-1918), the Armenians of Turkey endured widespread persecution and privation at the hands of the Turkish government. In 1924, at the age of 16, Karsh left his native Turkey for Canada to live with his uncle, A.G. Nakash, who operated a photo studio in Sherbrooke, Quebec. Under his uncles direction, the young Karsh learned the basics of photography. However, recognizing that Karsh needed more expert guidance to refine his skills, his uncle in 1928 sent him to Boston to apprentice under fellow Armenian John H. Garo, a well-known portrait photographer of the day. For the next couple of years, Karsh later recalled, as written in the Independent, that he learned about lighting, design, and composition and began to appreciate the greater dimensions of photography. Under Garos tutelage, Karsh was exposed to some of Bostons most celebrated men and women who regularly convened at Garos informal afternoon salons. Even as a young man, he remembered, I was aware that these glorious afternoons and evenings in Garos salon were my university. There I set my heart on photographing those men and women who leave their mark on the world.

After a three-year apprenticeship under Garo, Karsh in 1931 returned to Canada. In the nations capital of Ottawa, he opened a modest portrait studio, hoping that its location would offer him an opportunity to photograph its leading figures and many international visitors, Karsh was quoted as saying in the Independent. So meager was Karshs budget for the launch of his own studio that most of the furniture consisted of orange crates, coveredtastefully, I thoughtwith monks cloth, and if I occasionally found myself borrowing back my secretarys salary of $17 a week to pay the rent, I was still convinced, with the resilience of youth, that I had made the right choice. In his spare time, Karsh became involved with a local theater group, where he learned more about lighting and the use of artificial light in photography. It was at the theater group that the photographer first met actress Solange Gauthier, whom he married on April 27, 1939.

Only a few years after setting up shop in Ottawa, Karsh had firmly established himself in Canadian political circles. In 1935 he was named official portrait photographer of the Canadian government, in which capacity he was frequently called upon to photograph Canadian leaders and visiting statesmen. Karsh routinely researched the lives and accomplishments of his well-known subjects. In an account of his preparations for a photo shoot, Karsh wrote, as quoted in the Independent, Before I begin, I will have studied my subject to the best of my ability, and within broad limits know what I am hoping to find, and what I hope to be able to interpret successfully. The qualities that have attracted me to the subject are those that will satisfy me if I can portray them in the photograph, and that will most probably satisfy views of the picture as well. I am fascinated by the challenge of portraying greatness with my camera.

Although he had already won wide acceptance in the Canadian capital, Karsh first captured international attention with his December 1941 portrait of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. During a brief visit to Ottawa, Churchill reluctantly agreed to sit for Karsh, warning the photographer that he would give him two minutes and not a second more to take his picture. With that, Churchill lit up one of his trademark cigars. Seconds later, Karsh snatched the cigar from Churchills lips and snapped the picture. The resulting photo, which shows a somewhat petulant Churchill scowling into the camera and was sold to Life magazine for only $100, eventually became the most widely reproduced portrait in the history of photography. The Churchill portrait firmly established Karshs reputation as a world-class portrait photographer. Not long thereafter, the Canadian government asked Karsh to travel to England to shoot a series of photographs of British military leaders. Life magazine subsequently commissioned the photographer to do a similar series of American wartime leaders. In 1946, the year after the end of World War II, Karsh published his first book, Faces of Destiny, a collection of portraits of the men and women who spearheaded the Allied victories in Europe and the Pacific. That same year Karsh became a naturalized Canadian citizen.

The widely circulated Churchill portrait brought a major change in Karshs life. No longer did he have to seek out subjects. They came looking for him, seeking immortality through his lens. To be Karshed was a true sign that a celebrity had arrived. Although he offered his services to those from all walks of life, there was no denying that Karsh was fascinated by those he described as people of consequence, a group that included politicians, royalty, writers, scientists, and actors, among others. As the photographer himself observed and noted in the Economist, Its the minority that make the world go around. Every Canadian prime minister from Mackenzie King to Jean Chretien sat for Karsh, as did every American president from Herbert Hoover to Bill Clinton. Although probably no one other than Karsh knows for sure, it has been estimated that he photographed 17,000 people over six decades.

During the early 1950s Karsh worked occasionally as an industrial photographer, doing work for companies such as Ford of Canada Ltd. and Atlas Steel Ltd., but the bulk of his lifes work was as a portraitist. His most famous subjects included the British royal family; a young Elizabeth Taylor; Pope Pius XII; Albert Einstein; authors Norman Mailer, George Bernard Shaw, Andre Malraux, and H.G. Wells; British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher; and a bevy of American film stars, including Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart, and Gregory Peck. In 1959, Karsh became the first photographer to have a one-man exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada.

Karsh gained world recognition for his portrait style, which was formal and shot almost exclusively in black and white. The most notable aspect of the photographers unique style was his use of light to model his subjects faces in almost sculptural fashion. Karshs portraits are shot against simple backgroundsfrequently blackand use no props or decorations that might attract attention away from the central figure of the portrait. Although some of his detractors complain that Karshs portraits fail to capture the essence of his subjects, his supporters point out that Karshs primary goal was the visual idealization of the legend and public image of those he photographed.

In 1961 Karshs wife, Solange, died of cancer. A year later, on August 28, 1962, the photographer married Estrellita Maria Nachbar. He also became involved in academics, serving as visiting professor of photography at Ohio University in Athens from 1967 to 1969. In 1972 Karsh, whose Karsh of Ontario label was now recognized as the signature of one of the worlds most famous portrait studios, moved his operation into a suite at Ottawas fashionable Chateau Laurier Hotel. He also signed on with Bostons Emerson College as visiting professor of fine arts, a position he held until 1974.

Part of Karshs success as a portraitist may be attributable to the deep respect in which he was held by most of his subjects. According to the Edmonton Sun, Karshs brother Malak, who died in 2000, said his brothers subjects freely gave of themselves with love and respect. He said, People knew they had a master with them and they appreciated that opportunity. For his part, Karsh preferred to refer to his photo sessions as visits, during which he was unfailingly polite and curious, seeking to draw out his subjects views on their own lifes experiences as well as life in general.

Karsh maintained his studio in the Chateau Laurier Hotel until 1992, when he retired to Boston with wife Estrellita. Although he was no longer active in photography, Karshs work continued to excite great interest worldwide. In the years following his retirement, major retrospective exhibitions of Karshs work were held at Montreals Museum of Fine Arts; Londons National Portrait Gallery; Washingtons Corcoran Gallery; the Mint Museum in Charlotte, North Carolina; the Museum of Photography, Film, and TV in Bradford, England; Bostons Museum of Fine Arts; the Detroit Institute of Art; the National Portrait Gallery of Australia; and the Tower Gallery in Yokahama, Japan. His work has also been reproduced in nearly a score of books of photography, including Faces of Destiny (1946), Portraits of Greatness (1959), This Is Rome (1959), The Warren Court (1965), Karsh Portfolio (1967), This Is the Holy Land (1970), Faces of Our Time (1971), Karsh Portraits (1976), and Karsh Canadians (1978).

Karsh died in Boston, Massachusetts, on July 13, 2002, from complications following surgery for diverticulitis. Perhaps Karsh himself offered the best overview of his goals as a portraitist in his 1962 autobiography, In Search of Greatness: Reflections of Yousuf Karsh. Echoed in Contemporary Photographers Karsh wrote: I believe that it is the artists job to accomplish at least two thingsto stir the emotions of the viewer and to lay bare the soul of his subject. When my own emotions have been stirred, I hope I can succeed in stirring those of others. But it is the mind and soul of the personality before my camera that interests me most, and the greater the mind and soul, the greater my interest.

YOUSUF KARSH - tHe MAn

1939

1929

SOLAnGe KARSHFirst wife (1939-1961)

1936 1947

1948

1952

yousuf Karsh on set of the film production the Secret of

Karsh ca. 1958

yousuf Karsh photographing christine bissell

1957

eStReLLitA KARSH1963

Second wife (1962-2002)

With estrellitaby edward Steichen

1967

With Ansel Adams1977

With Pope Paul Vi1963

PAriS1981

estrellita and yousuf with President reagan

1981

yousuf Karshby Patty Watteyne

1995

With Kermit and Jim henson

1990

1946 - Faces of Destiny

1959 - Portraits of Greatness

1962 - In Search of Greatness

1971 - Faces of Our Time

1978 - Karsh: Canadians

1992 - Karsh: American Legends

1996 - Karsh: A Sixty-Year Retrospective

BOOKS:

by Abe Frajndlich1989

new hampshire1998

the cAMeRAMade by cAlUMet

The 8x10 bellows Calumet, made in 1956 in Chicago, was Karshs main camera. He used it for more than three decades, first in his Sparks Street studio, and then in the Chateau Laurier studio. For many years he took this camera or its New York twin across North America and to Europe.Although Karsh took most of his pictures in 8x10 format, the camera had a removable back and could have been adjusted to 2x4 and 5x7 formats.

Just as he preferred large studio cameras, Karsh favoured large format prints. They were, in his opinion, more expressive and vivid. One of the most interesting objects in the Karsh collection is a rare enlarger, made for Karsh by Saltzman, J.G. Inc.The enlarger was so large that when Karsh moved it to the Chateau Laurier from his Sparks Street studio the ceiling had to be raised to accommodate the size of the machine. This extra-large enlarger allowed Karsh to make photographic prints up to 30x40 inches (76x101 cm) from the original 4x5 and 8x10 negatives. It took up to thirty minutes to print the photographs on this scale. Only Karsh and his printer, Ignas Gabalis, who worked with Karsh from the early 1950s until 1992, operated the enlarger. Because it took so long to produce the large format images, Karsh called Gabalis the worlds slowest printer, but admitted that the quality of his work was impeccable.

the LenSMade by KodAK

Eastman Ektar f/6.3, 81/2-inch, 10-inch, 12-inch, and 14-inch, all 4-element Tessar type lenses, were designed especially for commercial color photography with 8x10 and 5x7 studio and view cameras. This lens is corrected to a very high degree and is especially well corrected for transverse chromatic aberration or lateral color; it is therefore ideally suited to Kodachrome and black-and-white photography. Each lens was tested for exact register of the images of the three primary colors. The lens was set up so that the light from the test object passes through the lens obliquely. The rectangles were made of colored gelatin, each passing a narrow band of the spectrum. If the lens had been properly made and assembled, the narrow black lines through the rectangles on the test object would be continuous in the test exposure. A test negative was made for each of these lenses, and kept on file. These lenses were marketed in later years as Commercial Ektars.

My task was not that of a candid camera which reveals men as they may or may not be, but that of the portrait-historian who must picture them as their generation imagines them to be.

1933 Duncan Campbell Scott1933 Prime Minister Robert Borden (Canada)1933 Lord Duncannon1933 Ottawa Little Theatre

1934 Lady Saunders1934 Ottawa Little Theatre

1935 Sir Francis Floud1935 Lord and Lady Bessborough (Gov. General)1935 Ottawa Little Theatre

1936 Ruth Draper1936 Lady Elgin1936 John Garo1936 Prime Minister W. L. Mackenzie King (Canada)1936 Madge MacBeth1936 Grey Owl (Archibald Belaney)1936 President Franklin D. Roosevelt1936 Ottawa Little Theatre

1937 Col. H.M. Bankhead1937 Lady Floud1937 Lord Tweedsmuir (John Buchan)1937 Ottawa Little Theatre

1938 Duchess of Atholl1938 Countess de Dampierre1938 Ambassador Tomi Shu (Japan)1938 Ambassador Baron Silvercruys (Belgium)1938 Ottawa Little Theatre

1939 Prime Minister W. L. Mackenzie King (Canada)1939 General A. G. L. McNaughton1939 Lord Riverdale1939 Barbara Anne Scott

1940 H.R.H. Princess Alice (England)1940 Marian Anderson1940 Air Marshal Sir Robert Brooke-Popham1940 H.R.H. Princess Juliana of the Netherlands1940 Prime Minister W. L. Mackenzie King (Canada)1940 Sir Shuldham Redfern

1941 Sir Winston Churchill1941 Prime Minister W. L. Mackenzie King (Canada)1941 Stephen Leacock1941 Gen. John J. Pershing1941 Paul Robeson

1942 H.R.H. Prince Berhardt (Netherlands)1942 H.R.H. Princess Juliana of the Netherlands1942 Prime Minister W. L. Mackenzie King (Canada)

1943 Lord Beaverbrook1943 President Eduard Benes (Czechoslovakia)1943 Sir Ernest Bevin1943 Sir William Beveridge1943 General Sir Alan Brooke1943 Morley Callaghan1943 Noel Coward1943 Sir Stafford Cripps1943 Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham1943 Anthony Eden (later Prime Minister, England)1943 H.R.H. Princess Elizabeth1943 Queen Elizabeth (Queen Mother)1943 King George VI1943 King Haakon VII of Norway1943 Admiral Sir Max Horton1943 H.R.H. Princess Juliana of the Netherlands1943 Madame Chiang Kai-Shek1943 H.R.H. the Duchess of Kent1943 Prime Minister W. L. Mackenzie King (Canada)1943 David Low1943 Sir Ernest MacMillan1943 Prime Minister Stanislaw Mikolajczyk (Poland)1943 Lord Louis Mountbatten1943 Prime Minister Johan Nygaardsvold (Norway)1943 Crown Prince Olav (Norway)1943 Prime Minister M. Hubert Pierlot (Belgium)1943 Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Portal1943 President Wladyslaw Raczkiewicz (Poland)1943 George Bernard Shaw1943 Field Marshal General Jan Christian Smuts1943 Foreign Minister Paul-Henri Spaak (Belgium)1943 Archbishop of Canterbury William Temple1943 Field Marshal Lord Wavell1943 H.G. Wells1943 Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands

1944 General H.H. Hap Arnold1944 Earl of Athlone1944 Bernard Baruch1944 President Charles de Gaulle (France)1944 Sir John Dill1944 James V. Forrestal1944 Prime Minister Peter Fraser (New Zealand)1944 Justice Felix Frankfurter1944 Viscount Halifax1944 J. Edgar Hoover1944 Chief Justice Charles Evan Hughes (U.S.)1944 Secretary of State Cordell Hull (U.S.)1944 Harold Ickes1944 Admiral of the Fleet Baron Keyes1944 Prime Minister W. L. Mackenzie King (Canada)1944 Admiral William D. Leahy1944 Claire Boothe Luce1944 Henry R. Luce1944 General George C. Marshall1944 Henry Morgenthau1944 Frances Perkins1944 Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn (US)1944 Nelson Rockefeller1944 Eleanor Roosevelt1944 Edward Steichen1944 Senator Robert Taft1944 Vice-President Harry Truman1944 Senator A.H. Vandenberg1944 Sumner Wells

1945 Georges Bidault1945 Lamot Dupont1945 King Ibn Abdul Aziz Faisal (Saudi Arabia)1945 Arthur Fiedler1945 Harvey S. Firestone1945 Gratien Glinas1945 Jascha Heifetz1945 H.R.H. Princess Juliana of the Netherlands1945 Serge Koussevitzky1945 Wanda Landowska1945 Archibald MacLeish1945 Minister of Foreign Affairs M. Trygve Lie1945 Yehudi Menuhin1945 Commissar of Foreign Affairs V.M. Molotov1945 T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings1945 Arthur Rubinstein1945 Harold Stassen1945 Leopold Stokowski1945 Foreign Minister Ivan Subasic (Yugoslavia)1945 Foreign Minister T.A. Sung (China)1945 Jack Warner1945 Frank Lloyd Wright

1946 Licia Albanese1946 Maxwell Anderson1946 Lady Astor1946 Lionel Barrymore 1946 Sir Thomas Beecham1946 Ingrid Bergman1946 Humphrey Bogart1946 Joseph Cotten1946 Dwight Eisenhower1946 Henry Ford II1946 Judy Garland1946 Greer Garson1946 Ruth Gordon1946 Sidney Greenstreet1946 Vladimir Horowitz1946 Jose Iturbi1946 Garson Kanin1946 Boris Karloff1946 Angela Landsbury1946 Peter Lorre1946 Thomas Mann1946 Louis B. Mayer1946 Robert Merrill1946 Field Marshal Viscount Montgomery1946 Pierre Montreux1946 Gregory Peck1946 Elmer Rice1946 David Sarnoff1946 Robert Sherwood1946 Elizabeth Taylor1946 Kurt Weill1946 Portia White

1947 Vicount Alexander of Tunis1947 Katharine Cornell1947 Dr. Thomas Cullen1947 Admiral William Halsey1947 Prime Minister W. L. Mackenzie King (Canada)1947 William Paley1947 Sally Ryan1947 Dr. Edward Telle

MAJORSittinGS

1948 Marian Anderson1948 Elizabeth Arden1948 Lionel Barrymore1948 Clark Clifford1948 Prime Minister John Costello (Ireland)1948 Joan Crawford1948 Lilly Dach1948 Governor Tom Dewey1948 General James Doolittle1948 Dorothy Draper1948 Albert Einstein1948 Clark Gable1948 Martha Graham1948 Hildegarde1948 President Herbert Hoover (U.S.)1948 Helen Keller1948 Sister Kenny1948 Beatrice Lillie1948 The Marx Brothers1948 Lily Pons1948 Toots Shor1948 Cardinal Francis Spellman1948 President Harry Truman

1949 Dean Acheson1949 Prime Minister Clement Attlee (England)1949 President Vincent Auriol (France)1949 Lord Barbazon of Tara1949 Jean-Louis Barrault1949 Lord Beaverbrook1949 Henri Bernstein1949 Georges Braque1949 Jean Cocteau1949 Pierre DuPont1949 Hon. Anthony Eden (later Prime Minister)1949 Archbishop of Canterbury Geoffrey Fisher1949 Admiral Lord Frazer1949 Prime Minister Alcide de Gasperi (Italy)1949 John Gielgud1949 Averill Harriman1949 Sir Geoffrey de Havilland1949 Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru (India)1949 Louis Jouvet1949 Edgar Kaiser1949 Sir Alexander Korda1949 Franois Mauriac (Nobel Prize-literature)1949 Henry Moore1949 Lord Moran1949 Harold Nicolson

1949 Pope Pius XII1949 J.B. Priestley1949 J. Arthur Rank1949 Lord Bertrand Russell (Nobel Prize-literature)1949 Jean Sibelius1949 United Nations President Paul-Henri Spaak1949 Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent (Canada)1949 Lord Stanley1949 Richard Strauss1949 Thomas Watson1949 Ralph Vaughan Williams1949 Hon. Harold Wilson (later Prime Minister)

1950 Atlas Steel Company1950 Dr. Alfred Blalock1950 Dr. Ralph Bunch (Nobel Peace Prize)1950 Sir Oliver Franks1950 Jascha Heifetz1950 Prime Minister Liquat Ali Khan (Pakistan)1950 General George C. Marshall 1950 W. Somerset Maugham1950 Dr. Robert Millikan1950 Mayor Yukio Ozaki (Tokyo)1950 Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein1950 George Szell

1951 General Omar Bradley1951 Ford of Canada1951 Leo Durocher1951 H.R.H. Princess Elizabeth1951 Josh Logan1951 James Michener1951 S.I. Newhouse1951 Arthur Hays Sulzberger1951 Lord Tweedsmuir (John Buchan)

1952 Vicount Alexander of Tunis1952 Secretary of State John Foster Dulles (U.S.)1952 President Dwight D. Eisenhower1952 Henry Cabot Lodge1952 Senator Richard Nixon1952 Bishop Fulton J. Sheen1952 William Steinway1952 Adlai Stevenson

1953 Sherman Adams1953 Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent (Canada)1953 Charles Munch

1954 Benjamin Britten1954 Albert Camus (Nobel Prize-literature)1954 Pablo Casals1954 Ren Clair1954 Paul Claudel1954 Le Corbusier1954 Alfred Cortot1954 Christian Dior1954 Walt Disney1954 Georges Enesco1954 Dame Edith Evans1954 Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.1954 Sir Alexander Fleming (Nobel Prize-medicine)1954 Christopher Fry1954 Earl and Countess Harewood1954 Maurice Herzoz1954 Lord Ismay1954 Augustus John1954 Andr Malraux1954 Field Marshal Viscount Montgomery1954 Lord Louis Mountbatten1954 Vice-President Richard Nixon1954 Laurence Olivier1954 Pablo Picasso1954 Terrance Rattigan1954 Carl Sandburg1954 Albert Schweitzer (Nobel Peace Prize)1954 Moira Shearer1954 John Steinbeck (Nobel Prize-literature)1954 President Tito (Yugoslavia)1954 Frank Lloyd Wright

1955 Chancellor Konrad Adenauer (Germany)1955 Winston Churchill1955 Jacob Epstein1955 Averill Harriman1955 Fritz Kreisler1955 Prime Minister Harold MacMillan (England)1955 Gilbert Murray1955 John D. Rockefeller, Jr.1955 Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent (Canada)1955 Adlai Stevenson1955 Arnold Toynbee1955 Herbert Von Karajan1955 Chief Justice Earl Warren (U.S.)

1956 Marcel Archard1956 Jean-Pierre Aumont1956 Samuel Barber1956 Yul Brynner1956 Dr. Ralph Bunch (Nobel Peace Prize)1956 Georges Candalis1956 Aaron Copland1956 Robertson Davies1956 Cecil B. deMille1956 Walt Disney1956 Anita Ekberg1956 Malcolm Forbes1956 Indira Gandhi (later Prime Minister of India)1956 Princess Grace of Monaco1956 U.N. General Secretary Dag Hammerskjold1956 Julie Harris1956 Audrey Hepburn1956 Charlton Heston1956 Dr. Jonas Salk1956 Dr. Charles F. Kettering1956 Gian Carlo Menotti1956 Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru (India)1956 Robert Oppenheimer1956 Georgia OKeeffe1956 Prince Ranier of Monaco1956 Norman Rockwell1956 Susan Strasberg1956 Igor Stravinsky1956 President Sukarno (Indonesia)1956 Gene Tunney1956 Bruno Walter1956 Thornton Wilder1956 Tennessee Williams

1957 Lauren Bacall1957 Pearl S. Buck (Nobel Prize-literature)1957 Ely Callaway1957 Will Durant1957 Dame Margot Fonteyn1957 Glenn Gould1957 Ernest Hemingway (Nobel Prize-literature)1957 J. Edgar Hoover1957 The Crown Prince of Iraq1957 Senator John F. Kennedy1957 Jacqueline Kennedy1957 Mervin Leroy1957 Justice Thurgood Marshall (U.S.)1957 Chief Justice McNair (Canada)1957 Vice-President Richard Nixon1957 Eleanor Roosevelt1957 Arthur Rubinstein1957 Andres Segovia

1958 Dr. Charles Herbert Best (Nobel Prize-medicine)1958 Niels Bohr (Nobel Prize-physics)1958 Dr. Vannevar Bush1958 Randolph Churchill1958 Sir William Cook1958 Robert Frost1958 Senator Hubert Humphrey1958 Carl Jung1958 Charles Laughton1958 Gina Lollabridgida1958 Anna Magnani1958 John Osborne1958 Lily Pons1958 Norman Rockwell1958 Harold Wilson

1959 Joseph Baum1959 Jack Benny1959 Victor Borge1959 President Dwight D. Eisenhower (U.S.)1959 Bob Hope1959 Pope John XXIII1959 Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loew1959 Gene Moore1959 Edward R. Murrow1959 Lenore Tawney

1960 Thomas Church1960 Robertson Davies1960 Marshall Field1960 Sir Edmund Hillary1960 Alfred Hitchcock1960 Senator Lyndon Johnson1960 Danny Kaye1960 President John F. Kennedy1960 Henry Cabot Lodge1960 Mary Martin1960 Emile Norman1960 Sir Robert Watson-Watt

1961 Walter Alvarez1961 Noel Coward

1962 Claudia Cardinale1962 Averill Harriman1962 Robert F. Kennedy1962 Martin Luther King1962 Walter Lippmann1962 Richard Lippold1962 Robert McNamara1962 Ludwig Mies van der Rohe1962 Cardinal Montini1962 Sir David Ormsby-Gore1962 Sir Michael Redgrave1962 Vanessa Redgrave1962 Secretary of State Dean Rusk (U.S.)1962 Pierre Salinger1962 Arthur Schlesinger1962 Sargent Shriver1962 Vittoria de Sica1962 Theodore Sorensen1962 President Tito (Yugoslavia)

1963 Ballerinas of the Bolshoi Ballet1963 Leonid Breszhnev (later Chairman U.S.S. R.)1963 Chief M.G. Buhtelezi (Zulu)1963 Leslie Caron1963 Yuri Gagarin1963 Senator Barry Goldwater (U.S.)1963 President Lyndon Johnson1963 Aram Khachaturian1963 Kim Kovak1963 Ludmilla Kruchova1963 Chairman Nikita Kruschev (U.S.S.R.)1963 General Douglas MacArthur1963 Samuel Marshak1963 Pope Paul VI1963 Maja Plisetskaya1963 Konstantin Simonov1963 The 9 members of the U.S. Supreme Court1963 Prime Minister Harold Wilson (England)

1964 Chancellor Konrad Adenauer (Germany)1964 Mayor Willy Brandt (Berlin)1964 Lady Winnifred Churchill1964 H.R.H. King Constantine of Greece1964 Ludwig Erhard1964 J. Paul Getty1964 Graham Greene1964 Prime Minister Alec Douglas Home (England)1964 Vice-President Hubert Humphrey (U.S.)1964 Alfred Krupp1964 President Heinrich Luebke (Germany)1964 Sir Laurence Olivier1964 Archbishop of Canterbury Michael Ramsay1964 James Rorimer1964 John Walker1964 Evelyn Waugh

1965 Marcel Archard1965 Leo Burnett1965 George Candalis1965 Marc Chagall1965 Vierra Da Silva1965 Max Ernst1965 Alberto Giacometti1965 Hans Hartung1965 Joan Mir1965 President Jean Monnet (France)1965 Prime Minister Lester Pearson (Nobel Peace)1965 Irving Penn1965 Serge Poliakoff1965 President Georges Pompidou (France)1965 Man Ray1965 Jean-Paul Riopelle1965 Dunoyer de Segonzac1965 Prime Minister Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri (India)1965 Pierre Soulages1965 Edward Steichen1965 United Nations Secretary General U. Thant1965 Chief Justice Earl Warren1965 Ossip Zadkine

1966 Josef Albers1966 Alexander Calder1966 President Dwight D. Eisenhower1966 Queen Elizabeth II1966 Henry Fonda1966 Nahum Gabo1966 Adolf Gottleib1966 David Hostetler1966 Dr. Edwin Land1966 Jacques Lipchitz

1966 Seymore Lipton1966 President Nasser (Egypt)1966 Louise Nevelson1966 Theodore Roszak1966 Ben Shahn1966 Ravi Shankar

1967 K.K. Bechtel1967 General Omar Bradley1967 John Kenneth Galbraith1967 Thomas Hoving1967 Marshall McLuhan1967 Emilio Pucci1967 Baron James Rothschild1967 Edward Steichen

1968 Henry Ford II1968 John Glenn1968 Senator Edward Kennedy1968 Beaumont Newhall1968 David Rockefeller1968 Alan Shepard1968 Albert Stockli1968 Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau (Canada)

1969 Neil Armstrong1969 Dr. Christiaan Barnard1969 Dr. Denton Cooley1969 Dr. Michael DeBakey1969 Forest E. Mars1969 H.J. Heinz1969 Joseph Hirshorn1969 Taizo Ishikawa1969 Yasunari Kawabata (Nobel Prize-literature)1969 Monjuro Kiritake1969 Roppeita Kita1969 Akira Kurosawa1969 Konosuke Matsushita1969 Yeko Mitzutani1969 Rubin Nakian1969 Barnett Newman1969 President Richard Nixon1969 Shoroku Onoe1969 Governor Ronald Reagan1969 Shinnichiro Tomonaga1969 Hideki Yukawa (Nobel Prize)1969 Apollo XI Crew

1970 Mohammad Ali1970 Joan Baez1970 Julian Bond1970 Emilio Greco1970 Hugh Hefner1970 Jacques Lipchitz1970 Giacomo Manzu1970 Marino Marini1970 Henry Moore, Jacques Lipchitz, Marino Marini1970 Dr. Linus Pauling (Nobel Chemistry and Peace)1970 Edward Steichen1970 Jan Wenner

1971 President Fidel Castro (Cuba)1971 Archibald MacLeish1971 Melina Mercouri1971 H. Ross Perot1971 Dr. Jonas Salk1971 Minister of State Celia Sanchez (Cuba)1971 Peter Ustinov1971 Duke of Windsor (King Edward VIII)1971 Duchess of Windsor

1972 W.H. Auden1972 Bill Blass1972 Jacques Cousteau1972 Billy Graham1972 Henry Kissinger1972 Paul Mellon1972 Henry Moore1972 Vladimir Nabokov1972 B.F. Skinner1972 Gloria Steinem1972 U. N. Secretary General Kurt Waldheim

1973 H.R.H. Prince Bernhard (The Netherlands)1973 Sir Kenneth Clark (Lord Clark of Saltwood)1973 Norman Jewison1973 Henry Moore1973 Jackie Stewart1973 Hal Wallis

1974 Prime Minister John Diefenbaker (Canada)1974 Norman Mailer1974 Marshall McLuhan1974 Mstislav Rostropovich1974 Keizo Saji

1975 H.R.H. Prince Charles1975 Dr. Robert Debr

1976 Prime Minister Ali Bhutto (Pakistan)1976 Art Buchwald1976 Arthur Fiedler1976 Chief Justice Bora Laskin (Canada)1976 Sir Bernard Lovell1976 Charlotte Rampling1976 Margaret Thatcher

1977 Ansel Adams1977 Margaret Atwood1977 Robertson Davies1977 President Gerald Ford (U.S.)1977 Rudolph Nureyev1977 Morley Safer

1979 Joan Baez1979 Prime Minister Joseph Clark (Canada)1979 Walter Cronkite1979 Eugene Istomin1979 Pope John Paul II1979 Eugene Ormandy1979 I.M. Pei1979 Laurence Rockefeller1979 Isaac Bashevis Singer (Nobel Prize-literature)1979 Andy Warhol

1980 Claudio Arrau1980 Buckminster Fuller1980 Philippe de Montebello1980 Isamu Noguchi1980 President-elect Ronald Reagan1980 Edward Bennett Williams1980 Herman Wouk

1981 Cornell Capa1981 President Jimmy Carter1981 Mayor Jacques Chirac1981 Alain Delon1981 Gerard Depardieu1981 Daniel Filipacchi1981 President Valery Giscard dEstaing (France)1981 Jacques-Henri Lartigue1981 Sophia Loren1981 President Franois Mitterand (France)1981 Itzhak Perlman1981 Roger Therond

1982 Dame Judith Anderson1982 James Baker1982 Vice-President George Bush1982 Zoe Caldwell1982 Alexander Haig1982 Krishnamurti

1983 Lord James Edward Hanson1983 Chuck Jones1983 Zubin Mehta1983 Paul Mellon1983 President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak (Egypt)

1984 Geoffrey Beene1984 Anthony Bliss1984 Queen Elizabeth II & Prince Philip1984 Ken Kesey1984 Edmond Safra1984 Rudolf Serkin1984 Archbishop Desmond Tutu (Nobel Peace Prize)1984 John Updike

1985 Isaac Asimov1985 Jean-Paul Belmondo1985 Leonard Bernstein1985 Gerard Depardieu1985 Prime Minister Brian Mulroney (Canada)1985 Patricia Neal1985 Michel Platini1985 Alain Prost1985 Baron Philippe de Rothschild1985 Andr Watts1985 John Wooden

1986 Dave Brubeck1986 Hiroshi Hamaya1986 Cho-Liang Lin1986 Charles Schulz1986 Stephen Sondheim

1987 Charles Aznavour1987 Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip, William, Harry1987 Julie Harris1987 Yehudi Menuhin1987 Moshe Safdie1987 Sir George Solti1987 Kiri Te Kanawa1987 Marguerite Yourcenar

1988 Chief Justice Brian Dickson (Canada)1988 Duke and Duchess of Gloucester1988 Wayne Gretzky1988 Helen Hayes1988 Sir Simon Rattle1988 Mother Teresa (Nobel Peace Prize)

1989 Berenice Abbott1989 President Corazon Aquino (Philippines)1989 Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto (Pakistan)1989 Yelena Bonner1989 Prime Minister Jean Chretien (Canada)1989 Dominique de Menil1989 Alfred Eisenstaedt

1989 Helen Frankenthaler1989 Gian Carlo Menotti1989 Luciano Pavarotti1989 Harold Prince1989 Vanessa Redgrave1989 Andrei Sakharov (Nobel Peace Prize)1989 President Lech Walesa (Poland)

1990 Walter Annenberg1990 Ray Bradbury1990 Warren Buffett1990 Cornell Capa1990 Leo Castelli1990 Robertson Davies1990 Colleen Dewhurst1990 Dizzie Gillespie1990 Philip Glass1990 President Mikhail Gorbachev (Russia)1990 Katherine Graham1990 President Vaclav Havel (Czechoslovakia)1990 Jim Henson1990 Al Hirschfeld1990 Judith Jamison1990 Jasper Johns1990 Philip Johnson1990 Dr. Henry Kissinger1990 Norman Mailer1990 Nelson Mandella (Nobel Peace Prize)1990 Arthur Miller1990 Ralph Nader1990 Jessye Norman1990 Gordon Parks1990 Andre Soltner1990 Isaac Stern1990 Kurt Vonnegut1990 Tom Wolfe

1991 George Abbott1991 Geoffrey Beene1991 Carter Brown1991 Cesar Chavez1991 Marilyn Horne1991 Arnold Palmer1991 David Rockefeller1991 Jonas Salk1991 Norman Schwarzkopf1991 Jimmy Stewart1991 Billy Wilder

1992 President Boris Yelsin (Russia)

1993 President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton

Resources:

The Estate of Yousuf Karsh www.karsh.orgMuseum of Fine Arts - Boston www.mfa.orgThe Metropolitan Museum of Art www.metmuseum.orgNational Portrait Gallery - London www.npg.org.ukGeorge Eastmans House www.eastmanhouse.orgAcurators Blog www.acurator.com/blog

Encyclopaedia Britannica www.britannica.comCanada Science and Technology Museum www.sciencetech.technomuses.caLibrary and Archives of Canada www.collectionscanada.gc.ca

note: this site doesnt make it very clear, but apparently the owner of the blog is a curator and copyrighter for Yousuf Karshs work.

nowhere on the internet a biography of estrellita Karsh can be found. this is a work in progress. Some photographs in this ebook are very good quality, while some

are in a very poor shape, and others are missing completely. Further improvements are needed.

This eBook was created as a resource and serves for educational and learning purposes as in-house material. It is used for viewing only. It cannot be used and distributed for commercial purposes. All images presented in this document are copyrighted to their respective owners. They cannot be printed, downloaded, copied or saved on a local computer. To ensure viewing privileges, this document is protected by a password. The

author assumes no responsability for any unwanted downloading or copying of the presented material.