portrait of Yousuf Karsh by Man Ray ©The Estate of Man Ray

The late Armenian photographer Yousuf Karsh, made Ottawa his home in 1932 and opened his photography studio. This upcoming summer (2009), Ottawa will be celebrating Karsh’s centennial birth by exhibiting his portraiture work. The curators will be putting together Karsh’s work of famous faces but also seeking regular citizens that also had their portrait taken by Karsh. There is an open call to people with Karsh portraits and stories to contact the organizers for the possibility of being in the exhibit. Go over to CBC for more info.

Karsh is obviously most famous for his portraits but his assignment to document Canada’s postwar economic development for the Maclean’s magazine leaves no doubt that he had an absolutely briliant eye for the image. View Yousuf Karsh here.

One of Karsh’s earlier works from 1927.

Early Landscape 1927©The Estate of Yousuf Karsh