Yousuf Karsh: Life & Work

Yousuf Karsh (1908?2002) is widely recognized as one of the leading portrait photographers of the twentieth century. Arriving in Canada alone in 1924 as a fifteen-year-old displaced refugee of the Armenian genocide, Karsh mastered the art of portraiture through apprenticeships in stylish studios of the Pictorialist age. With his camera, he sought to capture the essential nature of his subjects in what he called the ?elusive moment of truth.? Over the course of six decades, ?Karsh of Ottawa? created a unique visual chronicle of celebrated legends and so-called ordinary sitters, becoming a celebrity in his own right.