Yousuf Karsh Yousuf Karsh has many aspects to his work that I believe I could incorporate into my work.

This includes his use of light and his camera controls of which he uses to get highly detailed, dramatic photos. Here you can see that the picture of Winston Churchill has been lit from the back. This is obvious from the halo effect that surrounds his body, which ultimately gives the picture a sense of authority by making him look almost god-like. Lighting his face from the front then creates the detail of which really makes him stand out as he has a pale face in comparison to Churchills black suit. Karsh has then used a fairly simple background, which in my opinion leads your eyes to the centre of the image to make the viewer focus on the subject. In this photograph I really liked the way that Karsh has used shadows. By lighting the picture from above and from the front, Karsh creates some shadows either side of the face with an even light over the main features. This is effective in making the viewer focus on the lighter portion of the face. He has then used a black backdrop, which also helps for enhancing the look of the subject. The way he has used the lights also creates a large range of contrast to really bring out the detail and clarity in the face. This is further emphasized by the small aperture, which creates a pin sharp image. I really liked this picture because I felt as if the lowkey lighting made the image feel more intimate. This is further emphasized by the simple background, which made me feel as if Einstein is focussed on looking at you, the viewer. I found that backlighting the subject creates a subtlety to the picture that separates the dark clothing from the background without making it over-powered and taking away from the concentration on Albert Einstein. The composition is a typical head and shoulder, which in my opinion I prefer because I believe it creates more intimacy and allows the viewer to focus more upon the emotions of the subject rather than the surroundings, which is what I am aiming to do in my photos. However I think that it would be

fresh change to take the picture landscape rather than portrait because it would create an organic feeling of freedom rather than a confined, almost claustrophobic feel. When looking at Yousuf Karshs photos it becomes apparent that the background changes depending on what the subject is wearing. The white really works with Grace Kellys outfit because of its brightness. I find that the brighter tones give a sense of pureness to the image. This is further emphasized by the black and white, which evens out the tonality. I have also noticed that with the pictures of women, Karsh uses much softer lighting in order to supress any defects in the model. This would have been created using a soft box or some kind of diffuser. The lighting from the top and front really softens her look in this particular photo. Overall, I really like Karshs work, especially the picture of Grace Kelly as I plan to use a white background. The only thing that I would change is to make the lighting more even to get rid of any shadows. However I like how Yousuf Karsh creates detail using lights and also how he can simply change the whole dynamic of a photograph by altering their powers and positions. http://www.karsh.org/#/the_work/home (02-03-14) http://portraitinspiration.com/famous-portrait-photographers/ (02-03-14)