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Karsh Canadians
Book by Karsh, Yousuf
- GenresPhotographyCanada
203 pages, Hardcover
First published March 30, 1978
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June 12, 2023
I picked up several copies of Karsh's books after seeing the beautiful exhibition of his work at Pier 21. I'm sad to say despite being an amateur photographer for a number of years now, I'm not really big on photographic history or Canadian photographers, and I had been completely ignorant that he was that guy behind the iconic portraits of Hemingway, etc.
Portraits have never been my strong suit or key interest, and what blows me away from reading Karsh and seeing is work is how many of these people he turned into lasting friends. It's all the more remarkable when you consider the time period and that he came to Canada as an Armenian refugee. He seemed to have a powerful way of connecting to people that allowed him to capture them in these evocative ways.
I think print can be recommended over digital for his work just for capturing some of that unique tone from the silver gelatin process, and for a nearly fifty year-old book, this is pretty good. As a sort of coffee table book, it's well packaged, with large photos paired with missives from Karsh about his interactions with the person, and then brief biographical blurbs at the end.
Some of the cultural and sports figures depicted have lost relevance in the years since, some have gained importance, and some have drastically changed in perception, such as a number of the politicians who were 'elder statesmen' in 1978 that we would consider significantly more problematic today. The book also doesn't really depict what we would think of as "Canada" today: it's a product of its time and who could or perhaps who was "allowed" to become an ascendant force in politics, art, and business in mid-twentieth century Canada. While there are plenty of women and several Indigenous people, this is overwhelmingly a collection of middle-aged white people. On a purely aesthetic level, however, the book is a good mix, with some classic brooding shots of craggy-faced politicians mixed with some more technically-complex shots of performers or intimate shots of artists.
Portraits have never been my strong suit or key interest, and what blows me away from reading Karsh and seeing is work is how many of these people he turned into lasting friends. It's all the more remarkable when you consider the time period and that he came to Canada as an Armenian refugee. He seemed to have a powerful way of connecting to people that allowed him to capture them in these evocative ways.
I think print can be recommended over digital for his work just for capturing some of that unique tone from the silver gelatin process, and for a nearly fifty year-old book, this is pretty good. As a sort of coffee table book, it's well packaged, with large photos paired with missives from Karsh about his interactions with the person, and then brief biographical blurbs at the end.
Some of the cultural and sports figures depicted have lost relevance in the years since, some have gained importance, and some have drastically changed in perception, such as a number of the politicians who were 'elder statesmen' in 1978 that we would consider significantly more problematic today. The book also doesn't really depict what we would think of as "Canada" today: it's a product of its time and who could or perhaps who was "allowed" to become an ascendant force in politics, art, and business in mid-twentieth century Canada. While there are plenty of women and several Indigenous people, this is overwhelmingly a collection of middle-aged white people. On a purely aesthetic level, however, the book is a good mix, with some classic brooding shots of craggy-faced politicians mixed with some more technically-complex shots of performers or intimate shots of artists.
Displaying 1 of 1 review