Karsh: A Biography In Images

by Yousuf Karsh (Photographer), Malcolm Rogers (Contributor)

During his remarkable life, Yousuf Karsh, who was born in Armenia in 1908, traveled the globe to photograph subjects ranging from historical figures to anonymous farmers to steelworks. A Biography In Images is a full revision of the 1996 60-year retrospective of his work and brings that popular catalogue back into print in an affordable paperback format. This new edition covers the photographer's career with greater breadth than its previous incarnation, adding works from his early experiments and his photojournalism commissions in Canada. Karsh's reputation as one of the most sought-after portrait photographers of the twentieth century is well established. A roll call of his subjects is a veritable who's who of the modern age--Winston Churchill, Jacqueline Kennedy, Pablo Picasso, Walt Disney, Elizabeth Taylor and Albert Einstein, to name just a few--and this book features many of these figures, in some of the most recognized images of our time. But added to the portraits are a number of lesser-known or previously unpublished photographs--early figure studies, atmospheric views of the Ottawa theatre and scenes of wheat fields, city streets and factories across Canada. With its long autobiographical essay and extensive captions for each photo, many of them new to this edition, A Biography In Images is both an elegant celebration and an indispensable overview of a life lived in photography. Yousuf Karsh passed away last year.

Genres: Photography

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Jeffery Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I've mentioned in other photo book reviews, I'm a photography instructor. Karsch was an extraordinary portrait photographer and this book has many of his most famous images. I use this book often in my courses to illustrate traditional portrait lighting. We don't see this type of sharp dramatic lighting anymore. Not in photo studios and not on the big screen. It's too bad, because there's a special feeling that this approach delivers. I recommend any book about Karsch.

[Krusher Basta · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of beautiful photographs taken by Portrait Photographer Yousuf Karsh. It left me in awe to hear the stories behind some of the most iconic portraits of history changers/makers from the previous century, told in the words of the Photographer. One of the more poignant was the portrait of Robert Oppenheimer. Oppenheimer expressed to him a fear “for humankind if human intelligence did not catch up with the march of weapons.” We cannot have egomaniacs in control of tools that can destroy the world.

[Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Karsh indexed all the important people living during his time, and it's all shown here. It's rare to have a monograph where the artist is the one annotating the work. It's such a treat to get both photographs and, not just their historical context, but the memory of the person who took it.

[Stephanie Tanton · Rating 5 out of 5]

The annotations by the images is insightful on the character of the subject. Amazing photos and stories.

[Olly Colluphid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Misnamed but it doesn't matter.

A collection of Karsh's superb portraits, covering the big names of the mid twentieth century.

Beautiful pictures, short histories.