Karsh, Yousuf

Karsh, Yousuf

Karsh, self-portrait, 1988

(credit: 1988 Karsh of Ottawa/Woodfin Camp & Assoc.)

(born Dec. 23, 1908, Mardin, Tur.—died July 13, 2002, Boston, Mass., U.S.) Turkish-born Canadian photographer. As an Armenian in Turkey, he endured persecution before emigrating at 16 to Canada, where he joined his photographer uncle. He worked for a Boston portrait photographer (1928–31) then returned to Canada and soon opened his own studio in Ottawa. In 1935 he was appointed official portrait photographer of the Canadian government. His portrait of Winston Churchill (1941) brought him international fame. “Karsh of Ottawa” went on to photograph hundreds of the world's most prominent figures, including royalty, statesmen, artists, and writers, employing dramatic lighting techniques to produce idealized likenesses.