Karsh at 100

The Canadian Embassy together with the National Gallery of Canada pays homage to one of the world's best known photographers, Karsh of Ottawa, with 28 photographs of fellow artists from a full range of creative endeavors: painters, sculptors, performing artists, writers, architects, and designers, in this the centennial year of his birth. Yousuf Karsh (1908-2002), an Armenian born in Turkey who moved to Canada at the age of 16, is primarily known as a portraitist of prominent figures - you truly arrived when you had been "Karshed." The present exhibit features a select handful of international artists, including several Canadian luminaries, who have blazed trails in their respective fields.

Each of the photographs is accessible; you'll experience delight (the "ah-ha" moment) as you get the compositional point of each of the photos.

Many of the photos have achieved iconic status - you will know them immediately or recognize them on some subliminal level. Ernest Hemingway, George Bernard Shaw, Glenn Gould, and Martha Graham have been reproduced incessantly, yet the ability to see them intimately provides its own rewards. I had not noticed the pained and helpless look in Hemingway's eyes, a portent of his demise in four years, nor the equable engagement of the Shavian demeanor, which seems to say "this is how I see the world, how about you?" The muscular concentration and grace of performing artists Gould and Graham is particularly striking, up close, with the interpretative power that is packed into their hands.

The exhibit has a noire look, with heavy shadowing and use of lighting that at times delivers photography's equivalent of the chiaroscuro effect. This is especially useful in conveying emotional intensity, revealing the subject's inner life, and outward pose, whether through fortitude or guile. In the photograph of Anna Magnani - with the suffering and pained look - you can see depths from which she pulled those great emotions which were brought to the big screen. Marion Anderson displays a determined, visionary look of her art and her place within it while François Mauriac's striking pose, reminiscent of an ethereal silhouette, might have been branded, so closely (too closely, perhaps) is it aligned with his public persona. Plato's Allegory of the Cave is suggested through the image of philosopher Bertrand Russell whose profile lights a shadow world where truth may be intuited but never apprehended directly.

Mr. Karsh captures some artists poised on the moment of creation - Glenn Gould in digital mid-flight, Frederick Varley angling for the right placement of brush or paint, Jean Sebelius projecting the emotional key - and others fully staged, with all the bells, books, and candles supporting their contrarian masters - a Prospero-like Frank Lloyd Wright and the inimitable Robertson Davies fully equipped to unleash new sagas. Artists are depicted with the tools of their trade which like pets, seem to convey a similarity in appearance, from the 3-D Henry Moore to the T-squared Mies Van de Rohe. An element of playfulness interjects itself in the Andy Warhol and Man Ray collaborations in which Mr. Karsh allows them to turn the camera the other way while displaying their signature styles. The asceticism of Pablo Casals and Jean-Paul Riopelle are on view as they pursue or contemplate their solitary vision. For all the collaboration in the arts, ultimately it's the individual we'll remember.

The exhibit is now being interpreted with an excellent 58-minute video Karsh is History, which is shown continuously, and offers a window into his creative process. In addition to details of his life, various photographers and professionals (some friends) define Mr. Karsh's contribution and place his work in perspective. You'll be interested to know that he "gave the sitters what they wanted," like a wedding photo, and established, via his photograph, "who that person is supposed to be." He more or less worked with the subject; interviewing him or her while he set up, to develop a performance which was re-enacted during the shoot. In the viewing of the photograph there is a "relationship between you, the sitter, and himself." The theatricality is no coincidence: his first wife was a star of an amateur company, through whom he gained access to the stage world, and he "learned about (the effect on lighting) in hitting spots."

On your way to or from the National Gallery of Art and Newseum in DC or just for itself, during a mid-day break, you'll definitely want to include a stop at the Canadian Embassy in your immediate travel plans (9-5 pm, Mon-Fri through 12/18).