Tuesday 3 November 2009

Yousuf Karsh

Yousuf Karsh was a Canadian photographer, famous for producing lots of iconic portrait photographs. His subjects included Humphrey Bogart, Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandella and Albert Einstein. He used primarily black and white for his images, utilizing it to create dark, atmospheric portrait shots that encapsulate the subject.



This portrait is rather straight forward and simple. The subject is centrally located, posed away from the camera with almost defensive body language. I think this has been done to show that Einstein was quite a unique and individual person. The lighting in this has been arranged to look very natural and soft, so it works well with the black and white format. Saying that, the lighting works well to highlight his face against the background.





This is quite an intimate shot of a very powerful figure. The head on aspect makes it seem very formal yet the smile and relaxed stance make it seem so much less informal than than the norm. The way the subject fills the image is very typical of a portrait - just capturing the shoulders and above. I think this is an excellent way of capturing the nature of the subject, through a mix of formal and casual styles.




This is a very iconic photograph of Humphrey Bogart was taken by Karsh in 1946. It has been seen as the distinctive image of Bogart and this highlights it's photographic significance. Karsh has executed a well though out portrait shot, capturing the essence of of Bogart's individual style. Karsh has used his skill in lighting yet again to provide superb illumination to the subject's facial features, without it being to harsh or with too much shadow. The pose of Bogart in this is one of an ordinary person, as if he is bringing himself to the viewer's level. The shot is well composed, filled by the subject but also his cigarette smoke, which adds character to photograph.

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