This is the story of the extraordinary destiny of Yousuf Karsh. The man born in Turkey in 1908 would meet the greatest personalities of the last century. Those very individuals who changed the face of the world, who made people dream. From their encounters with the Canadian naturalized photographer, results this gallery of black and white portraits.
It all begins at the end of 1941, when Yousuf Karsh is chosen to take the portrait of Winston Churchill, who was then visiting Ottawa. In the midst of World War II, the photograph reveals a relentless and invincible English Prime Minister facing the enemy. The photographer’s international career is launched. It would continue until his retirement in 1992. In 60 years of work, he photographed more than 11,000 personalities from various backgrounds and nationalities. The exhibition presents 109 of the most famous portraits, organized by themes: musicians, writers, political figures, actors…
The lines of the photographs are sharp and the tones subtly nuanced. The Karshian style is precise, the technique perfectly refined. This gives the characters a sculptural aspect. A bit frozen, they reveal themselves as they are most often perceived: Brigitte Bardot is glamorous, Kennedy seems as good as gold, and General De Gaulle’s suit is perfectly pressed. Nothing surprises; the word “cliché” takes on its full meaning here.
The magic nevertheless works on the visitors. “I find it incredible to be able to walk between Albert Einstein and Ingrid Bergman,” explains Brigitte. All these people marked my childhood, my adolescence, and my adult life. There is Alan B. Shepard, the first man to walk on the moon! I was 9 years old then, and I still remember the images… It is very moving to see the faces of the people we admired when most of them are practically deceased. One might think that these photos make them immortal.”
Yousuf Karsh mingled among the personalities and watched the visitors pass by. In 1938, the photographer had taken his own portrait. Twenty years later, he was listed among the ten greatest photographers in the world by “Popular Photography” magazine. But as an artist, the most important thing in his eyes was to achieve at least two things: “to move his viewer and reveal the soul of his subject.”
