Yousuf Karsh Essay Example

positions or expression which changes attitudes to a significant figure. Through his work, it can be seen that he’s been interested in contrasting images as far back as he started with photography. In early years Karsh liked to experiment with optics and Surrealism. Photograph called Elixir (1938) could grab anyone’s eye because it was different from the portraits and at first it looks like a simple jar with reflection.

It was at the corner of the room at the entrance. I had to come closer to find out what was interesting about this. It was the movement of the whole picture. The contrast added details to women’s bodies and through the title someone would think it is an elixir of youth and beauty. The idea of reflecting the whole scene onto the glass surface to avoid outright view at the model is very expressive. His up to date work were in colour. They did not seem to stand out next to the black and white ones.

In his innovative photographs the details of facial structure were not as strong and they did not seem to be as expressive. Matthew Gurewitsh, who wrote an article about Karsh, told Jesse Rhodes about his opinion on the artist: “Speaking for myself, I don't think I'd call Karsh a fine artist, because the label sounds so lofty, and his work, for all its aspirations, was intended for the mass market (as exemplified by LIFE magazine). But for the very reasons I raise as objections, the label may be exactly right. For some, Karsh’s portraits may be put under commercial photography since most of his subjects were recognizable.

According to the International Who’s

Who 2000 which listed the most notable people of the last century, Karsh was the only Canadian of the 100 famous people listed, 51 whom he had photographed. For example, in comparison to Thomas Ruff and his portraits where young people looked expressionless, they were not knowable by the viewer but they were connected to Ruff himself, people in Karsh’s photographs seemed to have trust in an artist.

However, as mentioned, Ruff has personal connection with his subjects, which cannot be seen, the relationships are totally neutralized by their structure and plain, premeditated approach. Also, Thomas Ruff has said that his portraits may show every detail of the skin, clothes, and hair of the sitter, they still don’t try to show any of his or her feelings. Interestingly, the unique means for people is still to be perceived by one another. If he had photographed a famous person in the same way, maybe the perception would be different because we know another thing about this person.

By anonymity he persuades us something about these people. Karsh seems to have taken advantages of the fact that his portraits are to be recognized; he tries to let the viewer know a bit more about the character. Some people may find more interesting that he has been taking a wide range of celebrities; some may find his portraits alone as a masterpiece. On the other hand, Cecil Beaton had similar aim to Karsh, where he photographed Marilyn Monroe, Pablo Picasso and other famous personalities.

However, his photographs seem to be more artistic, giving the viewer the feeling of knowing someone. It even looks like he has opened up the character’s work.

For example, Beaton’s famous picture of Winston Churchill seems like he has interrupted the moment, showing a serious man eager to get on with his work. Beaton tries to get under the skin of his subjects and express their personalities in a more direct and uncluttered way. Karsh represented one’s strength by emphasizing their expression.

In conclusion, as Dr. Malcolm Rogers (Director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) wrote that while Karsh has spanned the Twentieth Century and encompassed the globe, by the time he retired, he had held 15,312 sittings, produced over 150,000 negatives, and left an invaluable artistic and historic document of the men and women who shaped our world. Personally, I think the composition of his photographs is innovative and inspired me to think in different ways especially from what you can achieve from a high contrasted image.