Stern Portfolio 71

Stern Portfolio No. 71

Yousuf Karsh

Yousuf Karsh (1908–2002) made some of the most iconic photography of his age. His wry portrait of Winston Churchill lingers in the mind’s eye like few others. Though prolific, for him there could be no shortcuts. His probing images reveal deeper truths, as he once stated, “Within every man and woman a secret is hidden.” He was an artist unafraid to boldly feature negative space. Aesthetically precise, his style makes deft use of studio lights and enveloping, inky tones. Karsh’s stylized compositions captured everyone from Sophia Loren to Bernard Shaw to Fidel Castro, making the Armenian-born photographer who fled to Syria and Canada in his youth, into a powerful photographic master. 

A comprehensive collection that pays tribute to the leading portraitist of the 20th century
An essential component of any serious visual library