Karsh《优素福·卡什：寻求伟大》

Yousuf Karsh:In Search of Greatness

Yousuf Karsh the Canadian portrait artist who photographed many of the most influential figures of the 20th century died in a Boston hospital on July 13 2002 after complications following surgery. He was 93.

Working from a studio in Ottawa Karsh produced famous portraits of such subjects as Winston Churchill John F.Kennedy Nikita Khrushchev Fidel Castro Ernest Hemingway and Albert Einstein. Actually he has become almost as famous as his legendary subjects. In the latest edition of Who's Who which listed the most notable people of the last century Karsh was the only Canadian of the 100 famous people listed -- 51 of whom Karsh had photographed.

Karsh was praised as a master portraitist often working in black and white influenced by great painters of the past. He was famous for talking to his subjects as he was getting the shot's composition just right asking them questions and putting them at ease.

He confesses that he continues to feel more challenged when " portraying true greatness adequately with my camera." In preparation he reads as much as he can about the person before the sitting but avoids having a preconceived idea of how he would photograph the subject. Rather he seeks as he wrote in Karsh Portfolio10 in 1967 to capture the " essential element which has made them great，" explaining " All I know is that 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 was born in Armenia in 1908 and grew up under the horrors of the Armenian massacres. His photographer uncle George Nakash brought him to Canada in 1924 and sent him to Boston in 1928 to apprentice with John Garo an outstanding photographer. He not only taught Karsh the technical processes used by photographic artists of the period but also prepared him to think for himself and evolve his own distinctive interpretations. Four years later he set up his studio in Ottawa.

In December of 1941 his memorable portrait of a glowering defiant Winston Churchill which symbolized Britain's indomitable wartime courage brought Karsh into international prominence. Canada's Prime Minister Mackenzie King arranged for Karsh to photograph Churchill following Churchill's speech in the House of Commons. Not forewarned， Churchill lit up a cigar and growled " Why was I not told of this?" but consented to a brief session. Karsh asked him to remove the cigar and when he didn't stepped forward and gently removed it with the comment " Forgive me Sir." Churchill glowered as the shot was taken then permitted Karsh to take still another jokingly commenting，"You can even make a roaring lion stand still to be photographed." The Churchill portrait has since appeared in publications and on commemorative stamps all over the world.

Karsh traveled to London in 1943 with his portable studio -- an 8×10 view camera and many studio lamps to photograph such notables as George Bernard Shaw the Archbishop of Canterbury and the royal family. Years later these timeless photographs are joined by portraits of such statesmen artists and movie stars as Laurence Olivier Pablo Picasso Frank Lloyd Wright and Clark Gable. All these portraits illustrate Karsh's ability to capture the essence of his sitter.

Karsh has had exhibitions of his work in Canada Great Britain Australia China and the United States in 1994. A number of portraits are also on display at numerous museums throughout the world.

选自《英语沙龙》杂志总第107期

优素福·卡什：寻求伟大

优素福·卡什，因术后并发症于2002年7月13日在波士顿一家医院里去世，享年93岁。这位加拿大人像摄影艺术家曾为20世纪众多风云人物拍摄过照片。

在渥太华一家摄影室工作的卡什曾为诸如温斯顿·丘吉尔、约翰·F·肯尼迪、尼基塔·赫鲁晓夫、菲德尔·卡斯特罗、欧内斯特·海明威以及艾伯特·爱因斯坦等人拍摄过非常优秀的照片。事实上，他本人也几乎和他那些具有传奇色彩的摄影人物一样有名。最新版的《世界名人录》列出的20世纪100位最著名人物中，卡什是其中惟一的一位加拿大人，并曾为其中的51人拍摄过照片。

卡什被人们誉为人像摄影大师，由于受到历史上一些著名画家的影响，他在拍摄中经常运用黑白摄影。他在拍摄人物调整画面时，会向他们提些问题，使他们尽量放松，因此他也以这种与拍摄对象聊天的拍摄方式而闻名。

他坦言，"用我的相机充分表达出人物真正伟大的一面"，一直是让他感到更具挑战性的事情。为此，每次拍摄之前，他都阅读大量有关被拍摄人物的资料，但是拍摄时尽量避免对拍摄对象怀有先入之见。正如他在1967年出版的《卡什摄影作品集》中所写的，他想方设法去捕捉"使他们成为伟人的最基本要素"。他说，"我深知每个人物内心深处都隐藏着一个秘密，作为摄影师，我的任务就是尽可能地去揭示这一秘密。尽管所有的人都会用面具极力掩饰，然而，人们内在的自我意识，有时会在一瞬之间，通过他无意识的手势、眼神以及短暂的失态流露出来。这个稍纵即逝的瞬间关系着摄影师的成败。"

优素福·卡什1908年出生于亚美尼亚，在对亚美尼亚人的恐怖仇杀中长大。他当摄影师的叔叔乔治·纳卡什，在1924年把他带到了加拿大，1928年又把他送到波士顿师从摄影大师约翰·加罗。加罗不仅传授给他当时摄影艺术家所运用的各种拍摄技巧，还培养他的悟性，使他在作品中融入并生发出他本人的独特阐释。4年后，他在渥太华开办了自己的摄影室。

1941年12月，卡什为温斯顿·丘吉尔拍摄的一张照片使他扬名世界。照片上的丘吉尔怒目而视，一副挑战者的姿态，成为二战时的英国不屈不挠、决心作战到底的勇气的象征。加拿大总理麦肯齐·金安排卡什在丘吉尔结束在国会下院的讲话之后为他拍照。由于事先没有通知他，丘吉尔点上一支雪茄，嘴里嘟哝着，"怎么不早告诉我？"不过他还是同意给点儿时间。卡什请他拿开雪茄烟，丘吉尔不干，卡什走上前，一边说"抱歉，先生，"一边轻轻地拿下雪茄。照相时，丘吉尔怒目而视。接下来却让卡什再拍一张，并开玩笑说，"你竟能让怒吼的狮子安静地站在这儿拍照。"从此丘吉尔的这张照片出现在世界各种出版物以及纪念邮票上。

1943年，卡什带着便携式的照相器材--一架8×10英寸的大相机和许多摄影用灯到伦敦旅行，在那里他为许多著名人物，如肖伯纳、坎特伯雷大主教及英国皇室成员拍摄了照片。多年以后，这些不朽的照片中又多了像劳伦斯·奥利维尔、帕布鲁·毕加索、弗兰克·劳埃德·赖特、克拉克·盖博等政治家、艺术家及电影明星。所有这些人像摄影都展示了卡什在捕捉被摄人物个性精髓方面的天赋。

1994年，卡什在加拿大、英国、澳大利亚、中国和美国举办了摄影作品展。现在他的许多作品依然在世界各地的博物馆里展出。