ON ASSIGNMENT: KARSH 100 EXHIBIT AT THE MFA
By Michael Merline
Boston Globe
008/12/on_assignment_karsh_100_exhibi.html
Dec 29 2008
MA
As you enter the "Karsh 100: A Biography in Images" exhibit at the
Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, you will see Yousuf Karsh’s photography
equipment, which includes his camera on a tripod, the camera case,
and his hat on the case — as though you are in his studio for a
portrait sitting. And as you stroll through this studio/exhibit,
you will see many of his famous (and infamous) subjects who posed in
front of this very same camera.
Yousuf Karsh was born in Mardin, Armenia, on Dec. 23, 1908 (100 years
ago this month). He arrived in Canada in 1925 and his Uncle George
Nakash, a photographer, was waiting for him in Ottawa. Karsh worked
in his uncle’s studio in the summer of 1926. Shortly after that first
summer in the studio, his uncle arranged for an apprenticeship for
Karsh with fellow Armenian John H. Garo, a portrait photographer
in Boston.
Karsh left Boston in 1931 and returned to Ottawa, where he opened a
photography studio. One of his first portraits was of Franklin Delano
Roosevelt when he visited Canada in 1936. His best known portrait
is Winston Churchill; Karsh photographed him in 1941 when Churchill
visited Ottawa. It is said to be one of the most reproduced photos
in the world.
Photo: Audrey Hepburn / 1956 photo by Yousuf Karsh / Gelatin silver
print Courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Photo: Winston Churchill / 1941 photo by Yousuf Karsh / Gelatin silver
print Courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
This portrait makes one wonder what Karsh said to the prime minister or
what Churchill was thinking to produce the distinctive arched eyebrow
and frown. In his career, Karsh had 15,312 opportunities (the number
of portrait sittings he recorded) to meet many people and get many
expressions that became permanently recorded for the world to see.
Among the luminaries he photographed were George Bernard Shaw, the
British royal family, Ansel Adams, Albert Einstein, J. Edgar Hoover,
Judy Garland, Helen Keller, US Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Henry Kissinger,
and Mother Teresa.
Photo: George Bernard Shaw / Photo by Yousuf Karsh Courtesy of the
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Other works in the exhibit include commercial photography, placed
against a back wall — almost to signify that Karsh’s success lay
not in his commercial work, but his outstanding portraits.
Karsh retired in 1997 and returned to Boston with his wife
Estrellita. He passed away in 2002. His widow still resides in Boston,
and is involved with philanthropic causes including the MFA, the
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and other charities.
Karsh 100: A Biography in Images Through Monday, Jan. 19 Museum of
Fine Arts Avenue of the Arts 465 Huntington Avenue Boston, MA 02115
617-267-9300
(Sources used for this essay include the Yousuf Karsh website and
this Globe feature story on Estrellita Karsh.)