Yousuf Karsh Analysis

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Even with a great deal of violence, the arts will still shine through. This was the case for Yousuf Karsh, a photographer. When World War II was taking place, Karsh was becoming a well known photographer. Compared to the photographs of others taken in the time period, Yousuf Karsh’s photographs are much simpler than them. Most other photos are showing images from the war or other violence related topics, while Karsh focused on people. Karsh’s main focus was portraits. Almost all of Karsh’s photographs uses dramatic lighting to show different and unique shadows on his subjects. Yousuf has taken some of the most well known photographs. Yousuf Karsh was born on December 23, 1908. He was raised in Mardin, part of the Ottoman Empire, which is now known as Turkey. Due to political problems in Mardin, the Karsh family fled to Aleppo, Syria in 1922. When Karsh was 16 years…show more content…
He was taught the science and art of photography. After two years, he was an apprentice under John Garo, a Boston photographer and painter. Garo taught Karsh three main ideas: shadow, form, and artificial lighting which led to his use of dramatic lighting in portraits. “Character, like a photograph, develops in the darkness” -Yousuf Karsh, this quote ties into how he started off, not knowing anything about photography and coming to a new country, which is like being in the dark. From there he grew as a photographer, developing his character further. In 1931, Karsh opened his own studio. He started taking photos for Ottawa Little Theatre. Here he met his wife. They were married in 1936. One of the biggest moments for Karsh was his first showing of his works. It took place in the Drawing Room of the Chateau Laurier hotel. Karsh then moved his studio to the hotel. Another important moment of 1936, was when he was able to photograph Mackenzie King, former Prime Minister of Canada, meeting Franklin D. Roosevelt. This caught the attention of other

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