Assignment2-Emulation of Yousuf Karsh's work

Ernest Hemingway, 1957

"Within every man and woman a secret is hidden, and as a photographer it is my task to reveal it if I can. The revelation, if it comes at all, will come in a small fraction of a second with an unconscious gesture, a gleam of the eye, a brief lifting of the mask that all humans wear to conceal their innermost selves from the world. In that fleeting interval of opportunity the photographer must act or lose his prize."

Yousuf Karsh, Karsh Portfolio,1967

Georges Bernard Shaw, 1943

Albert Schweitzer, 1954

Francois Mauriac, 1941

Yousuf Karsh was a Canadian photographer of Armenian heritage. He photographed many of the great and celebrated personalities of his generation. He offers an intimate and compassionate view of humanity.

Yousouf Karsh’s style is very recognizable: he uses a very dramatic lighting, one main light on the upper right corner of the frame (short lighting) to illuminate the face, 2 hair lights and often a background light to isolate his subjects, or a black background. The image is very sharp, there is a lot of details and contrasts. For example, we can feel the texture in Ernest Hemingway's portrait. He also often place the person in the center of the frame, shoulders parallel to the frame, giving a more powerful impression of the person. He also used a red filter to darken a bit the skin tone.

The facial expression of his subjects is very intense. Those are not smiling pictures, but Karsh managed to grasp an intense moment. Subjects are most of the time not looking at the camera. They seem lost in their train of thoughts. Karsh presents his subjects in an heroic manner, often filling up the frame with their face.