KARSH, YOUSUF

born Dec. 23, 1908, Mardin, Turkey Canadian photographer, known for portraits of the great personages of his time. As an Armenian in Turkey, the young Karsh endured persecution and privation. At the age of 16 (in 1924) he emigrated to Canada, joining his uncle, who was a photographer in Sherbrooke, Que. From 1928 to 1931 he served as an apprentice to a prominent Boston painter and portrait photographer and briefly attended art school. Returning to Canada in 1932, he was employed by an Ottawa photographer, whose studio Karsh leased after his employer retired. He was appointed official portrait photographer of the Canadian government in 1935. He became a naturalized Canadian citizen in 1947. Karsh's portrait of Sir Winston Churchill, made in Ottawa in 1941, brilliantly conveyed the dogged determination of Britain's wartime leader and brought Karsh his first real international fame. Karsh went on to photograph an enormous number of the world's most prominent personalities, including royalty, statesmen, artists, and writers. He also continued to make portraits of world leaders. Karsh's style as a portraitist was formal. He used subtle lighting to meticulously model his subjects' faces, thereby obtaining a monumental and idealized presentation that was in accord with their public image. His books include Faces of Destiny (1946), Portraits of Greatness (1959), In Search of Greatness (1962), Karsh Portfolio (1967), Faces of Our Time (1971), Karsh Portraits (1976), Karsh Canadians (1978), and Karsh: A Fifty-Year Retrospective (1983).