Yousuf Karsh

Yousuf Karsh was born in Mardin, Ottoman Empire (present-day Turkey) in 1908 to an Armenian family. He survived the Armenian Genocide and emigrated to Canada in 1924, where he later studied photography under his uncle George Nakash. Karsh opened his own studio in Ottawa in 1932 and gained international fame after his portrait of Winston Churchill, taken in 1941, became a symbol of British defiance during World War II.

Karsh's signature style involved dramatic lighting and meticulous composition, capturing the character and gravitas of his subjects. His portraits of figures such as Albert Einstein, Ernest Hemingway, and Martin Luther King Jr. are celebrated for their psychological depth. He worked primarily in black-and-white photography, often using large-format cameras.

Karsh's work has been exhibited worldwide and is held in major collections including the National Gallery of Canada and the Museum of Modern Art. He received numerous honors, including the Order of Canada and the Royal Photographic Society's Progress Medal. He continued photographing until his death in 2002 at age 93.