Tweet
BOOK ON KARSH A WORTHY ADDITION TO ANY PHOTOGRAPHY BUFF'S COLLECTION
Prince George Citizen (British Columbia)
July 11, 2013 Thursday
Final Edition
by David Travis, The Citizen
This edition of Armenian-Canadian Yousuf Karsh's portrait photographs,
both the iconic and the uncommon, is a wellorganized and worthy
edition.
David Travis, former curator of photography at the Chicago Art
Institute, places the photographs strategically, with original text by
Karsh on his memories of these pictures. He then makes his own comments
on them, which add meaning and context to some of the world's most
recognizable people, and tells the inner story of Karsh the artist.
There are many books on Karsh that are more elaborate, with more
photographs,
but none as economical or well-told, based on hitherto unknown
recordings by Karsh himself.
Karsh speaks of his arrival in Canada, his breakthrough with the iconic
Winston Churchill photograph, and displays a composed reverence for
his subjects that would be unattainable in today's fast-food world of
images and i-Pads.
These photographs are compositions carefully arranged and painted
in black and white, displaying the inner life of their subjects,
like James McIntosh, the black aide to US General George Marshall
and keeper of the nation's secrets.
Another is famous Canadian William Henry Pratt, the shy private
intellectual who we better know as Boris Karloff. Travis selects
the famous as well as the lesser known, showing that Karsh created
with an eye for looking as well as lighting, giving his subjects an
importance no matter their stature in life.
This book has all his classics and much more: George Bernard Shaw,
Peter Lorre,
Humphrey Bogart, Harry Truman, Pablo Picasso, Francois Mauriac, Ingrid
Bergman, the Kennedys, Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, Ernest Hemingway,
Fidel Castro, Pierre Trudeau, Helen Keller, Nikita Khrushchev, and
probably the most reproduced portrait photo of all time, Winston
Churchill.
But it also includes Churchill after the photograph, and so delivers
much more than the sum of its parts - it lives up to its title,
Beyond the Camera.
This title can be found at the Prince George Public Library.
Reviewer Allan Wilson is the chief librarian of the Prince George
Public Library and an amateur photographer.
Prince George Citizen (British Columbia)
July 11, 2013 Thursday
Final Edition
by David Travis, The Citizen
This edition of Armenian-Canadian Yousuf Karsh's portrait photographs,
both the iconic and the uncommon, is a wellorganized and worthy
edition.
David Travis, former curator of photography at the Chicago Art
Institute, places the photographs strategically, with original text by
Karsh on his memories of these pictures. He then makes his own comments
on them, which add meaning and context to some of the world's most
recognizable people, and tells the inner story of Karsh the artist.
There are many books on Karsh that are more elaborate, with more
photographs,
but none as economical or well-told, based on hitherto unknown
recordings by Karsh himself.
Karsh speaks of his arrival in Canada, his breakthrough with the iconic
Winston Churchill photograph, and displays a composed reverence for
his subjects that would be unattainable in today's fast-food world of
images and i-Pads.
These photographs are compositions carefully arranged and painted
in black and white, displaying the inner life of their subjects,
like James McIntosh, the black aide to US General George Marshall
and keeper of the nation's secrets.
Another is famous Canadian William Henry Pratt, the shy private
intellectual who we better know as Boris Karloff. Travis selects
the famous as well as the lesser known, showing that Karsh created
with an eye for looking as well as lighting, giving his subjects an
importance no matter their stature in life.
This book has all his classics and much more: George Bernard Shaw,
Peter Lorre,
Humphrey Bogart, Harry Truman, Pablo Picasso, Francois Mauriac, Ingrid
Bergman, the Kennedys, Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, Ernest Hemingway,
Fidel Castro, Pierre Trudeau, Helen Keller, Nikita Khrushchev, and
probably the most reproduced portrait photo of all time, Winston
Churchill.
But it also includes Churchill after the photograph, and so delivers
much more than the sum of its parts - it lives up to its title,
Beyond the Camera.
This title can be found at the Prince George Public Library.
Reviewer Allan Wilson is the chief librarian of the Prince George
Public Library and an amateur photographer.