“Royal Canadian Mint engravers have expertly reproduced the original portrait taken by Yousuf Karsh in 1948. As a unique addition, Einstein’s breakthrough formula E=mc2 has been included within the image…. […]

Barbara Ann Scott, 1939 Barbara Ann Scott was a Canadian figure skater. She was the 1948 Olympic champion, a two-time World champion (1947–1948), and a four-time Canadian national champion (1944–46,… […]

Barbara Ann Scott, 1939 Canadian figure skater Barbara Ann Scott – born 1928, pictured here at age 11 – was the 1948 Olympic champion, a two-time World champion (1947–1948), and… […]

…Secretary of State. Marshall was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953. See Marshall in his 1944 Sitting. See some other Nobel Prize winners photographed by Karsh. Harry Truman, 1948… […]

William Lyon Mackenzie King, 1936 William Lyon Mackenzie King died on this day, July 22, in 1950 (b. 1874). King was Canada’s 10th Prime Minister and served from 1921-1930, and… […]

Harry Truman, 1948 President Harry S. Truman signed Executive Order 9981 on July 26, 1948, calling for the desegregation of the U.S. Armed Forces. This executive order abolished discrimination “on… […]

Helen Keller, 1948 Helen Keller was an American author, disability rights advocate, political activist and lecturer. She was photographed on this day, March 8, in 1948. Keller was photographed alone… […]

Princess Juliana, 1943 Juliana (1909-2004) was Queen of the Netherlands from 1948 until her abdication in 1980. She is pictured with her third child, Princess Margriet, who was born on… […]

Alumnae Theatre Company, 1948, performing Ruth Gordon’s play “Years Ago”, 1948 Yousuf Karsh was heavily involved with the Ottawa Little Theater, where he cut his lighting teeth, and was the… […]

Herman Leonard, 1947 “Herman Leonard began his career as an apprentice to famed portrait photographer Yousuf Karsh. Building on the lessons learned as a darkroom assistant and those gleaned from… […]

Princess Elizabeth and family, 1951 On this day, June 2, in 1953, Princess Elizabeth was formally crowned Queen Elizabeth II. This informal family portrait was made earlier, in 1951 at… […]

Joan Crawford was photographed in December, 1948, for Collier’s Magazine. The American publication was founded in 1888 by Irish immigrant Peter Collier, and was launched as a magazine of “fiction,… […]

Edwin Land, 1966 Edwin Herbert Land was born on this day, May 7, in 1909. He is best known as the co-founder of the Polaroid Corporation. He invented inexpensive filters… […]

Harry S. Truman, 1948 Harry S. Truman was born on this day, May 9, in 1884. He was the 33rd president of the United States, from 1945 to 1953, having… […]

Mother Teresa, 1988 Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, known as Mother Teresa, was born on this day, August 26, in 1910. She began working in the slums of Calcutta in India in… […]

Jimmy Carter, 1981 James Earl Carter Jr. was born on this day, October 1, in 1924. The 39th President of the United States was photographed not long before he would… […]

Marx Brothers, 1948 Collecting New York’s Stories: Stuyvesant to Sid Vicious opens tomorrow, January 22, 2020, at The Museum of the City of New York, and features highlights drawn from… […]

Clark Gable, 1948 American film actor Clark Gable was born on February 1, in 1901. Gable had roles in more than 60 motion pictures in multiple genres during a career… […]

Albert Einstein, 1948 German-born theoretical physicist Albert Einstein was born on March 14, in 1879 (d. 1955). Einstein is known widely for developing the theory of relativity, but he also… […]

Elizabeth Arden, 1948 Canadian-American business woman Elizabeth Arden died on this day, October 18, in 1966. Born Florence Nightingale Graham in 1881, she went by the name Elizabeth Arden and… […]

Jonas Salk, 1956 American virologist and medical researcher Jonas Salk was born on this day, October 28, in 1914 (d. 1995). In 1947, Salk accepted a professorship in the School… […]

Clark Gable, 1948 Hollywood leading man Clark Gable died on November 16, 1960 (b. 1901). He had roles in more than 60 motion pictures in multiple genres during a career… […]

Joan Crawford, 1948 American actress Joan Crawford died on this day, May 10, in 1977. Born Lucille Fay LeSueur sometime between 1904 and 1908, she starred in dozens of films,… […]

Karsh with his mother, Bahiyah, and brothers Salim, Malak, and Jamil, 1948 Karsh’s records show 46 sittings that took place on August 1sts between 1933 to 1993. On August 1st… […]

Winston Churchill and William Lyon Mackenzie King, 1941 Last week our colleagues at Library and Archives Canada held an online discussion titled “A Singular Friendship: Yousuf Karsh and William Lyon… […]

Edwin Land, 1966 There is a wonderful Instagram page, Photographers Photographed, devoted to portraits of photographers by photographers, which prompted me to think about all the photographers and photo-related inventors… […]

Herman Leonard, 1947 Today marks the centenary of the birth of photographer Herman Leonard (March 6, 1923; d. 2010.) Leonard gained a BFA degree in photography in 1947 from Ohio… […]

Albert Einstein, 1948 German-born theoretical physicist Albert Einstein was born on March 14, in 1879 (d. 1955). Einstein is known widely for developing the theory of relativity, but he also… […]

Agnes Macphail, 1934 Agnes Macphail (1890-1954) was the first woman elected to the Canadian House of Commons and one of the first two women elected to the Ontario legislature. She… […]

Thomas Watson, 1948 An inquiry came in about this portrait of Thomas Watson, recorded in 1948 by Karsh’s studio as “President, International Business Machines Corp.” Watson was photographed again the… […]

Lilly Daché, 1948 Lilly Daché (c.1892-1989) was a French-born American milliner and fashion merchandiser. She started her career in a small bonnet shop, advanced to being a sales lady at… […]

Jean Paul Riopelle, 1965 The latest “GeoMinute,” a series of minute-long educational videos from Canadian Geographic, is about Jean-Paul Riopelle, the Canadian painter and sculptor from Quebec. “In 1948, Jean-Paul… […]