New exposure for master portrait photographer Yousuf Karsh

It's been 15 years sinceYousufKarshdied. At the time, digitalwas just starting to overtake film as the most popular photographic medium.

It's perhaps long overdue, but now a much more complete picture of the great portrait photographer's life and work is available online on a website devoted to his work thatlaunchedlast month.

Thewebsitenot only showcasesKarsh'sbest-known portraits, it reveals many previously unpublished or rarely seen photos of the photographer behind the scenes.

You can view candid photos ofKarshwith people such as Ernest Hemingway, Albert Einstein, fellow photographerAnselAdams, Pope JohnXXlll and Ronald Reagan, to name but a few.

There is even a group shot ofKarshwith JimHensonand Kermit the Frog and also a rich trove of video and audio interviews.

'It's a labour of love'

In the background of some of the photos isJerry Fielder,Karsh'slong-time Ottawa assistant and the director of the Estate ofYousufKarsh,and one of small group of people on both sides of the border responsible for exposingKarshto a wider online audience.

"I'll tell you," Fielder says from Boston,"for everyone that knew him and has worked with him, it's a labour of love."

"One of the goals was for people to know more aboutYousufas a person, to know something about him personally."

As a boy,Karshgrew up during the horrors of the Armenian genocide. His parents managed to save enough to send him to the safety of Canada where he eventually established an Ottawa portrait studio.

The first studio was on Sparks Street on the second floor of a building that was later named theHardy Arcade. Next, his studio moved to the ChateauLaurierHotel whereKarshand his wife,Estrellita, also lived.

His career went into high gear after his photograph of a stern-looking Winston Churchill came to define the resilience of the British people during World War ll.

The photograph was taken after Churchill gave a speech in 1941 in Ottawa.

Karshfamously took Churchill's cigar over his objections, an act that shocked others in the room, triggered Churchill's frown and produced one of the best-known photographs in the world.

'A special feeling for Ottawa'

While he is remembered for his portraits of the famous,Karshalso photographed thousands of Ottawa area residents.

"He had a very special feeling for Ottawa,"says Fielder."It was his home and it welcomed him so he was very grateful and happy to photograph the citizens."

Fielder saysKarshwas genuinely interested in people and their social standing and said it didn't make a difference in how he photographed them.

"Whether you are the head waiter or the Head of State he treated everyone exactly the same no one was vetted. He was happy to photograph anyone. And you would call and make an appointment. And sometimes it was quite a bit in advance, but he was happy to do it."

One of the benefits of the group's website is the ability to search the names of the more than 15,000 people Karsh photographed, famous or not.

Archival treasure trove

That is a real benefit, according to Jill Delaney, an archivist at Library and Archives Canadawho was consulted during its creation.

"We often get contacted by people in Ottawa or around the area asking if we have a photograph thatKarshmay have taken," Delaney says.

"They may already have one print of a portrait that he took, but they might be interested in seeing some of the other negatives that were taken.

"With thiswebsitewhat they can do is they can go in and just enter the name of their grandfather or grandmother or great uncle or whoever and see if the sitting actually exists, and we might have something and then they can contact us and we can try and make that material available to them."

Delaney sayspeople can usually obtain a scan of an image for personal use or research purposes.

Massive collection with Library and Archives

However, theKarshestate does not allow images for commercial purposes such as advertising or for printing on items such asT-shirtsand coffee mugs.

Library and Archives Canada has some 355,000 items in its Karsh collection, includingall of his negatives, which are kept in a climate-controlled facility inGatineauoperated by Library and Archives Canada.

Seeing the massive collection provides a greaterappreciation of the scope ofKarsh'swork.

The collection is not just portraits.

One of Karsh's earliest photographs in the collection is a 1926 shot of alake, thought to be in theSherbrookearea of Quebec. It hadnever been published. There are also passport photos, photos of families, babies and children.

"Everybody has to start somewhere," saysDelaney.

'All the time he was watching'

"He had to build up his business (in the early years) and so, of course, in order to make a living he was photographing whoever came through the door and whoever made an appointment and he was actually undercharging compared to a lot of the other studio photographers in town in order to build up that business,"Delaney says.

Even the photographs of the famous are a revelation.

Delaney pulls out a thick manila envelope full of photographs and huge eight-by-ten inch negatives from the session with Ernest Hemingway.

The portrait of Hemingway is one of his most well-known, with Hemingway somber and wearing a burly fisherman's sweater.Karshtook the photograph in 1957 in Havana, Cuba.

Less known are the profile photos of Hemingway with a slight grin and without the sweater.

"He didn't just take a single photograph and that was it," says Delaney. "We sometimes have that impression with a photographer. Well, even with a photographer as talented asKarsh,he would shoot many negatives for one sitting and choose the one he felt best portrayed what he was trying to say about the person."

Karshtypically took about 20 to 25 photographs of a subject, and Fielder sayshis boss was charming and sincere and soon gained the trust of his subjects.Karshwould often meet people a day before the sitting so he could gain insight into their personality.

"He was a great raconteur and he was great company and people would love talking with him, but all the time he was watching. He was paying attention to what was natural, what was real," Fieldersays.

Still discovering photos

Fielder says he, along withweb designer MikeHartleyand licensing agent JulieGrahame,plan to keep the site updated to reflect current events.

"Jackie Robinson was just honoured this past week for seventy years, the 70th anniversary of breaking the colour barrier in baseball," Fielder says. "And so we have a link to an article on that and link to the statue that was dedicated in his name and Mr.Karsh'sportrait of him."

He was a great raconteur and he was great company and people would love talking with him, but all the time he was watching. He was paying attention to what was natural, what was real.- Yousuf Karsh'slongtime assistant, Jerry Fielder

Delaney has been overseeing theKarshcollection for nearly two decades, but said she is still discovering new photographs.

"You never know what you are going to find when you open up a box," she says.

"You might be going into a box to look for one particular sitting but then right next to that is a famous politician and right next to that is a famous movie star and right next to that is maybe somebody not so famous that you don't really know."