Karsh of Ottawa---Yousuf Karsh CC (December 23, 1908 – July 13, 2002): Probably the greatest portrait photographer of all times was Karsh of Ottawa if one judges by the celebrates who...

OldSchool-WI Loc: Brandon, Wisconsin 53919

Probably the greatest portrait photographer of all times was Karsh of Ottawa if one judges by the celebrates who flocked to him. Originally dubbed the "Pore photographer" because of the detail he showed from his studio 8x10 and Ektar lens and when traveling to England, his Graphic View Camera. This post is a discussion of his work and methods, not a posed question.

OldSchool-WI Loc: Brandon, Wisconsin 53919

OldSchool-WI wrote:

Probably the greatest portrait photographer of all times was Karsh of Ottawa if one judges by the celebrates who flocked to him. Originally dubbed the "Pore photographer" because of the detail he showed from his studio 8x10 and Ektar lens and when traveling to England, his Graphic View Camera. This post is a discussion of his work and methods, not a posed question.

It seems a discussion about the greatest portrait photographer does not interest people on UHH.----

flip1948 Loc: Hamden, CT

OldSchool-WI wrote:

It seems a discussion about the greatest portrait photographer does not interest people on UHH.----

I googled him when you name dropped him a number of times in your earlier posts. He did excellent work and photographed many famous people.

I really don't have a desire or need to discuss him any further.

Don't call me snarky.

OldSchool-WI Loc: Brandon, Wisconsin 53919

flip1948 wrote:

I googled him when you name dropped him a number of times in your earlier posts. He did excellent work and photographed many famous people.

I really don't have a desire or need to discuss him any further.

Don't call me snarky.

No---that is not snarky---it just means you don't care to examine masters like the greats including Adams and Karsh and the dozen else. You are satisfied with your current state of knowledge and expound from that base.----ew

OldSchool-WI Loc: Brandon, Wisconsin 53919

Yousuf Karsh was a man "doing his thing" and not a writer about his process like was the case with Ansel Adams. One has to study the work of Karsh to "learn Karsh's genius." There are many books outstanding of his work and I have four of them. They are purely illustrations. Of course his most famous early photo was that of Winston Churchill which became the hallmark for Churchill and came into being when in the last minute--Karsh grabbed the cigar from Churchill's lips. His determined (bulldog) look resulted from the lost cigar and not war losses.----ew

MrPhotog

OldSchool-WI wrote:

It seems a discussion about the greatest portrait photographer does not interest people on UHH.----

This does seem to be more of a digital-equipment-oriented discussion group than an art history class.

I never met the man and saw his work rarely. There were a lot of other famous photographers in his lifetime who got more recognition because they had more work published—simply because they worked for publications: newspapers and photo magazines like Life, Look.

There is no doubt Karsh did great stuff. Perhaps there are some examples of his work that could be posted and critiqued.

Of course critiquing portrait photography gets into a lot of nit-picking. Picking ‘the best’ portrait at a meeting of professional photographers is in itself an art.

By the way, Yousuf was not the only one in the Karsh family who was a well known photographer. His brother Malak and an uncle of Malak’s were also mentioned in Wikipedia. His niece Marie was active with a chapter of the Chicago Area Camera Clubs Association in the 1970s and 80s.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

I think you might be correct. It would seem that a good deal of the folks are gear-centric rather than expressing an interest in technique or theme.
--Bob

OldSchool-WI wrote:

It seems a discussion about the greatest portrait photographer does not interest people on UHH.----

traderjohn Loc: New York City

OldSchool-WI wrote:

No---that is not snarky---it just means you don't care to examine masters like the greats including Adams and Karsh and the dozen else. You are satisfied with your current state of knowledge and expound from that base.----ew

Now, I think it is you who are, "snarky". A simple OK would have acknowledged his belief is different than yours. That's allowed.

EJMcD

I've never gone to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or any other "social media". I recently joined UHH for my love of photography. However, after being a member for a little over a month, I realize why I've avoided social media. There are too many posters that give me the impression that their opinion is the only one that matters. Therefore, I may go back to what I originally did the first week of joining....viewing the photos , skipping through and ignoring all comments.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

I've admired Karsh's work since the first portrait of his I'd seen. The lighting and his ability to capture the personality of the subject were incredible. I think his working in black and white aided that capture or personality.
--Bob

OldSchool-WI wrote:

Probably the greatest portrait photographer of all times was Karsh of Ottawa if one judges by the celebrates who flocked to him. Originally dubbed the "Pore photographer" because of the detail he showed from his studio 8x10 and Ektar lens and when traveling to England, his Graphic View Camera. This post is a discussion of his work and methods, not a posed question.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

Karsh was a well respected and successful portrait photographer. Because of this, anyone interested in portrait photography should seek out and examine his work and judge for themselves.
.

Retina Loc: Near Charleston,SC

I have probably seen portraits by Karsh and not known who the photographer was. The other day I happened to look through my copy of "Kenny Rogers' AMERICA". The book is mostly his landscapes he made while on tour along with a few portraits of his family and friends. Mr. Karsh contributed to the book with some writing and a portrait of the artist. I admit I did not know Yousef Karsh's name before. It surely helped Rogers sell a few books and probably some photographs given his fame from his day job, but he definitely took large format B/W photography very seriously to the point where Karsh described his approach and his work with praise.

billc987

People forget, they won't know where they are going, if they don't know where they came from. Karsh approached portraits in his own way. He spent time looking for the inner person he wanted to capture. Then he used light to paint the image. He spent time on making sure his lighting drew out that inner person he wanted to show. The lighting styles he used are still followed by many today. We learn from the past . It is a good idea to embrace experience whenever we can.

Dikdik Loc: Winnipeg, Canada

My parents wedding portrait was taken by Karsh in Ottawa, about 1945... It was before he became renouned.

Dik

billc987

I did not get to meet him until 1967. By then he was well known.