Karsh treatment
When taking his world-famous portraits, Yousuf Karsh sought to reveal his subject’s “hidden” character by capturing ephemeral emotions concealed beneath the mask of celebrity.
Combining a courtly demeanor with darkroom brilliance, the Armenia native photographed royalty and despots, starlets and artists, transforming their public faces into iconic images.
In celebration of the 100th anniversary of Karsh’s birth, the Museum of Fine Arts is exhibiting a broad sampling of memorable black-and-white photographs that display his eye-catching artistry throughout the arc of his career.
Pablo Picasso gazes with penetrating eyes past a vase bearing the figure of an amply endowed nude. Regal yet reserved beneath her crown, Princess Elizabeth stands at rest in her royal gown. Pale as a corpse, a cadaverous Andy Warhol holds a paintbrush in his delicate, hairy hands.
The just-opened exhibit, “Karsh 100: A Biography in Images,” comprises about 100 images including famous personalities and lesser-known landscapes, experimental shots and photos of Canadian laborers and landscapes that show another side of the artist.
Organized by curator Anne Havinga, the exhibit presents a balanced, visually pleasing portrait of one of the 20th century’s great portrait photographers.
Born in 1908 in the former Eastern Ottoman Empire, now present day Turkey, Karsh achieved international recognition following decades of diligent preparation. After relatives were killed during the Armenian genocide, his family moved to Syria and Karsh was sent in 1924 to live in Canada with an uncle who was a professional photographer. Impressed by his nephew’s ability, his uncle sent Karsh to Boston to serve as an apprentice with John Garo, an experienced photographer who became his mentor.
During his formative years in Boston, Karsh hones his signature style.
Karsh’s best-known work, a portrait of a defiant Winston Churchill that launched his career, resulted from a fortunate mix of the photographer’s determination and instinctive professionalism, Havinga said. Allowed only two minutes to photograph Churchill, who was visiting Canada just weeks after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, she said Karsh “respectfully” plucked a cigar from his lips, prompting an expression of indomitable will that came to represent British resistance.
Opening the exhibit, Estrellita Karsh said her late husband photographed “people who mattered, people who left their mark on the world.”
“I hope this exhibit shows what kind of person Yousuf was,” she added. “I think it shows the intertwining of his personality and work because they are one and the same thing.”
Shedding a different sort of light on Karsh’s personal and technical approach, the exhibit also includes one of his large-format cameras, preparatory studies for his portraits and a revealing transcript of a conversation with Albert Einstein during a 1948 photo session that clearly intended to put the great man into a pensive mood.
In a revealing back-and-forth, Karsh asked Einstein about possible connections between music and mathematics, the likelihood of Russian imperialism and whether he felt optimistic about the future during the atomic age.
Throughout the mid-20th century, Havinga said, “Karsh’s name became synonymous with the highest level of photographic portraiture and being ‘Karshed’ was an honor for sitters.”
Visitors to the show will feel as if they’re viewing a cavalcade of 20th century stars such as Audrey Hepburn, Ernest Hemingway, Jacqueline Kennedy, Mother Theresa, Rudolf Nureyev, the Duchess of Windsor, Harry Truman, Georgia O’Keeffe and Ronald Reagan.
Jerry Fielder, who served as a consultant for the show, praised Karsh for his meticulous preparation for each photo session and expertise editing his images. The curator and director of Karsh’s estate, he explained the artist typically shot with a large-format camera that used an 8-by-10-inch negative that captured his subjects in remarkable detail.
Karsh usually shot about 15 negatives for every two-hour session. “Yousuf researched his subjects for talking points during the session,” Fielder said. “And he had an extraordinary control of light. In the dark room, he was the master of light and composition.”
Karsh’s images became so ingrained in the popular mind that viewers passing through the galleries may have the curious sensation of seeing famous people who looked just like they thought they would.
Sitting beneath a horned elk skull, a black-clad Georgia O’Keeffe resembles a monk meditating in an austere cell. Wearing a dark burnoose and white hood, Ibn Abdul Aziz Faisal, who became king of Saudi Arabia, appears to be lost in deep thought. Practically spilling out of her gown, sexy Swedish starlet Anita Ekberg purses her lips and closes her eyes in a seemingly private rapture.
Shot in extreme close-up, Fidel Castro’s deep-eyed gaze exudes a somber gravitas. Boris Karloff sits pensively, looking tired rather than monstrous. Appearing atypically nervous in a strapless gown, 28-year-old Jacqueline Kennedy looks quizzically into the camera.
In a memoir titled “Portfolio,” Karsh wrote of photographing the famous: “The endless fascination of these people for me lies in their inward power… It is part of the elusive secret that hides in everyone and it has been my life’s work to catch on film. The mask we present to others, and too often to ourself, may lift only for a second — to reveal that power in an unconscious gesture, a raised brow, a surprise response, a moment of repose. This is the moment to record.”