In search of greatness; reflections of Yousuf Karsh [Unknown Binding]

Yousuf Karsh (Author)

Product Details

• Unknown Binding
• ASIN: B00005XI9O
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,473,284 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Karsh Was One of the First Great Celebrity Photographers, April 26, 2008

By 

James R. Holland "Author of Boston's Notable ... (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: In Search of Greatness: Reflections of Yousuf Karsh (Hardcover)

This book's tone is exactly like that of the photographer himself. Karsh was a somewhat shy, Armenian immigrant, who believed in doing everything within proper channels. In fact, I suspect the only illegal thing he ever did in his entire life was when he worked as an assistant for the famous Boston portrait photographer John H. Garo during the depths of Prohibition. Garo was a great party giver and often as many as seventy local celebrities would drop by his studio after work. Karsh acted as bar tender. Garo served up alcohol under the disguised name of darkroom chemicals."
"'Now for Dr. Koussevitzky, Yousuf,' Garo would say, `let us have a nitric acid.' Which meant I would mix a gin and tonic for the great conductor. `And for Arthur Fiedler some hypo,' hypo being our humorous code-word for bourbon.'"
In his three years working with Garo, young Yousuf learned technique, but he also learned the value of photographing the celebrities of Boston and their noteworthy visitors. He also realized that Garo was not planning to leave a collection of his work for posterity. Karsh instinctively realized this was a mistake for a great portrait photographer such as Garo, whose name or work few people today recognize because of this glaring oversight on his part.
Young Karsh deliberately set out to photograph the most important people in the world. He selected Ottawa, as his base because as a capitol city he figured many of prospective subjects would be likely to visit the location.
"One of the questions I am asked most frequently is why my best known portraits tend to be those of famous persons, rather than of ordinary people whose faces might provide interesting studies for their own sake...I seriously doubt if the interpretation of an unknown face is likely to have interest equal to that of a known personality, either to a photographer or to those who view his work. The best proof of this is that my portraits of famous people are better known than any of my other photographs."
Karsh's quest to photograph the most famous, greatest leaders, scientists, artists, musicians, writers, and other celebrities was a life-long pursuit for him. He used the same photographic techniques he had learned from Garo and from his early experience with the dramatic lighting used for stage productions. Karsh slowly but persistently built his contacts with Canadian government officials so that in later years, especially during WW II, he was able to travel around the world seeking to photograph the most famous people alive with recommendations, references and official clearances from high-ranking government officials. Karsh always went through the proper channels but did figure out how to quickly reach the key officials in the various bureaucracies he needed to navigate.
If there is a fault with this book it is that Karsh spent much, too much time name-dropping. He always referred to this or that General, King, Crown Prince, or important contact he made and socialized with. Karsh would have been quite happy in Hollywood since he really did know almost everyone recognized by the entire world as having truly great fame. Sometimes this name-dropping seems like the entire book is an acknowledgement, or thank you note for all of the officials who helped him arrange to photograph his very famous subjects. It sometimes gets in the way of the book's most interesting material.
Karsh was also a perfectionist and spent decades getting his portrait books published with the finest-quality, very expensive reproduction he demanded. It's doubtful the publishers of those books were able to make a profit on them even though they sold out several editions. Karsh and his wife were very fond of music, drama, dance, literature, flowers, growing herbs, wild birds, travel and gourmet food. He had a shy, low-key personality and was always impeccably dressed in a rather formal manner. He was the perfect embodiment of a cultured gentleman. It was as if he had just stepped off the cover of "Gentleman's Quarterly." His wife was also a bit of a fashion aficionado. She was particularly fond of fancy hats.
This is a fun book to read for any fan of the work of Yousuf Karsh. The man knew what he wanted early on and he kept his eye on that goal. While the book makes him seem a bit of a social climber, it was because he felt, knew that he needed those social contacts to achieve his access to photograph his "wish list" of the "greatest living humans." He also made certain he left several collections of his work at various important museums so that it could be appreciated by posterity. He definitely learned from his mentor Boston Portrait Photographer John Garo. He learned as much from Garo's mistakes as from his achievements. The fact his most well known portraits are of "the most famous of the famous" makes them extra desirable to collectors--both individuals and institutions. Karsh didn't neglect donating a major collection at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts too.

4.0 out of 5 stars Good read, April 11, 2007

By 

NJ Dad "NJ Dad" (East Coast) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In search of greatness;: Reflections of Yousuf Karsh (Hardcover)

Karsh is a master portraitist and this book is an interesting read that takes us through exciting times in history and Karsh's view of them. He met and photographed some important political, literary, music and art figures at interesting times in their lives and the anecdotes are enjoyable.