Gary Oldman stars in the latest film about Winston Churchill, Darkest Hour, which is out now in the US and coming to the UK in the new year. Naturally, Karsh’s iconic portrait is in use in various articles, and features as the cover of the January, 2018, issue of British Mayfair Magazine. Darkest Hour follows Churchill’s early days as Prime Minister while Hitler closes in on Britain during World War II.

The story of Winston Churchill’s surprise photo shoot with Karsh is legendary. Watch a video of Karsh recreating the photograph, with Morley Safer playing Churchill.

On this day, December 22, in 1967, Yousuf Karsh was appointed Officer of the Order of Canada.

The Order of Canada is the nation’s greatest honor. There are three levels of distinction: Member, Officer, and Companion. Companion is the highest honor and it is limited to 165 living individuals. Yousuf Karsh was elevated to Companion in 1990.

Read more on the Parks Canada website.

On this day, December 21, in 1958, Charles de Gaulle was elected as the first president of the Fifth Republic of France. He was previously the leader of Free France (1940–1944) and the head of the Provisional Government of the French Republic (1944–1946).

“When de Gaulle visited London in June 1940, he was befriended by Colonel Georges Vanier and his wife Pauline. Georges Vanier, later a governor general of Canada, was appointed by Prime Minister Mackenzie King to be the official Canadian representative with the French National Committee in London. In 1944, Vanier accompanied de Gaulle to Ottawa, where the Free French leader addressed a large and enthusiastic crowd outside Parliament.” (Canadian Encyclopedia).

Karsh photographed Their Excellencies the Vaniers on several occasions.

In the 1930s, Karsh was in Ottawa photographing the general public, including weddings, children, pets and passport photos, in amongst local dignitaries, and productions of the Ottawa Little Theatre. When Mr. Karsh closed his studio in 1992, his negatives and work prints went to the collection of Library and Archives Canada. The LAC’s online database includes more than 10,000 scans from Karsh’s earliest years. Of course you can now cross-match those early sittings against the database on this website, making research easier, and more fun! Our search box self-populates to you can automatically see who is listed.

Read more about Karsh’s early years in Ottawa.

Library and Archives Canada – click through to “online image research.”

On this day, December 10, in 1901, on the fifth anniversary of the death of Alfred Nobel, the first Nobel Prizes were awarded. The philanthropist left the bulk of his estate to establish the annual Prize in “physical science, in chemistry and in medical science or physiology; literary work “in an ideal direction” and the fifth prize is to be given to the person or society that renders the greatest service to the cause of international fraternity, in the suppression or reduction of standing armies, or in the establishment or furtherance of peace congresses.” (Wikipedia)

Bishop Desmond Tutu was honored with the Peace Prize in 1984.

Dr. Melvin Calvin was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1961.

Hideki Yukawa was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1949.

See a list of some other Nobel Prize winners who were photographed by Karsh.

Thanks to the Gibson family for sending these images of Yousuf Karsh at work. Karsh is seen here at Reindeer Station, in Canada’s Northwest Territories, in photos taken by Reverend Ralph Gibson in the early 1950s. Both men were there for an annual reindeer round-up; more than 60 years later, the Gibson family kindly shared these scans they made from the Reverend’s original slides.

According to the Canadian Broadcasting Company, “In March 1935, the first group of reindeer were herded to the Mackenzie Delta by Saami herders and Alaska Natives after a long journey that originated on the other side of the world. The reindeer were brought to the area by the Canadian government to address a shortage of caribou. The herd, which originated in Russia, had been transported from Norway to New York City by steamship; to Seattle, Wash., by train; and north to Alaska, again by ship.” Read more.

The youngest son of Prince Charles and Princess Diana has announced his engagement. Prince Harry is fifth in line to the British throne. He is seen above at three years old with his brother, Prince William, left, and their cousins, Peter Philips and Zara Philips, children of Princess Anne. The portrait was made at Balmoral Castle in 1987.

Her Majesty was photographed several times. During the session in 1951, Prince Charles and Princess Anne joined their parents.

Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company, installed the first moving assembly line for mass production on this day, December 1, in 1913. This enabled Ford to produce a more affordable automobile.

Ford of Canada commissioned Karsh to photograph their plant in 1951 and he spent two weeks there. See more Ford of Canada photographs. See Karsh “On Assignment“.

He photographed Ford’s grandson, Henry Ford II, for LIFE Magazine in 1946, and again in 1968. Ford II was president of the Ford Motor Company from 1945 to 1960.

Founded in 1947 by photographer Tom Blau, Camera Press celebrates its 70th anniversary this year. It is one of the world’s leading independent picture agencies with a long and distinguished history, representing the work of iconic photographic legends as well as modern masters.

Made by photographic artist and curator Emma Blau, co-owner of Camera Press, to coincide with their platinum anniversary, this film is an insight into the working lives of some of the agency’s top contributors and a look at the stories behind just a few of their amazing images which are held in the Camera Press archives.

Contributors featured include: Terence Pepper, Senior Special Advisor on Photographs, National Portrait Gallery & Photographs Curator for the Fashion and Textile Museum, and acclaimed Camera Press photographers John Swannell, Clive Arrowsmith, Jillian Edelstein and Chris Floyd.

The work of photographic legend Yousuf Karsh, the first photographer to join Camera Press in 1947, also appears. As well as images by the agency’s founder Tom Blau.

“Celebrating our 70th anniversary is a real milestone: Camera Press remains not only family owned but also one of the last independent photographic agencies in existence. We are indebted to the photographers whose work Camera Press has represented over the past seven decades. Their exceptional images, both past and present, have played a significant part in shaping the history of photography.” Emma Blau

Produced & Directed by Emma Blau / Co-Director, Editing & Sound: Theo Gordon / Music: Wagga Man

On this day, November 29, in 1963, one week after President John F. Kennedy was fatally shot, President Lyndon B. Johnson established the Warren Commission. Leading the investigation into the assassination was Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren.

Warren served on the Supreme Court from 1953–1969. He was photographed twice during his tenure – in 1955, on assignment for Collier’s Magazine, and in 1963. See the details.

See photographs of Lyndon B. Johnson.

See more of Karsh’s Sittings for Collier’s.

On this day, November 22, in 1990, Margaret Thatcher announced her resignation. The first woman prime minister in British history was elected in 1979 and was the longest-serving British PM of the 20th century.

Thatcher was photographed at the House of Commons, Westminster, in 1974 when she was Leader of the Opposition, one of many sittings arranged through Tom Blau of Camera Press. See some others.

Congratulations to Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip on the occasion of their 70th wedding anniversary, and to Camera Press for its ongoing relationship with the Royal Family, and their representation of photographer Matt Holyoak.

Yousuf Karsh joined Camera Press at its inception on a handshake with its founder, Tom Blau, and the agency would be instrumental in Karsh’s own work with the Royal Family. The Estate of Yousuf Karsh is proud to continue its representation by Camera Press to this day.

Karsh photographed Elizabeth as Princess in 1943, as well as her father, George VI, the same year. He photographed her as Princess again in 1951 and would go on to photograph her and the family across four decades. See a list of the Sittings.

Breakfast at Tiffany’s is now a reality: a café has opened at Tiffany’s flagship store on Fifth Avenue in New York City. According to the New York Times, the Blue Box Café “is a bright, airy space, with the “Breakfast at Tiffany” breakfast starting at $29. The offering comes with coffee or tea, followed by a croissant and seasonal fruit and rounded out with your choice of a buttermilk waffle, smoked salmon and bagel stack, truffle eggs, or avocado toast.”

Audrey Hepburn was photographed in 1956, five years prior to playing Holly Golightly in the film Breakfast at Tiffany’s. She was photographed on her own, and with husband Mel Ferrer.

1956 was a very busy year. See who else was photographed.

MFA Boston had a visit last week from the Honourable Bardish Chagger, Minister of Small Business & Tourism; Leader of the Canadian Government in the House of Commons. She toured “Follow the North Star: Inuit Art from the Collection of Estrellita and Yousuf Karsh” with Curator Dennis Carr, who provided insight into the works of art and talked at length about Mrs. Karsh’s great vision and generosity.

“Follow the North Star” is now in its final weeks, closing December 31, 2017.

At this year’s Paris Photo, our representative, Robert Klein, of Robert Klein Gallery, included Pablo Picasso in his booth. A lingering visitor, looking intently at the print, turned out to be Picasso’s son Claude Ruiz Picasso, himself an artist – he was Richard Avedon’s photographic assistant for a spell.

Picasso was photographed in 1954. Read the story of the Sitting and see more photos.

This year, 2017, is the centenary of the birth of master photographer Irving Penn. New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art held a centennial exhibition which has now traveled to the Grand Palais, Paris, and is on view through January 29, 2018. The exhibition “looks back over his seventy-year career, with more than 235 photographic prints, all produced by the artist himself, as well as a selection of his drawings and paintings.” Read more.

Yousuf Karsh was photographed by Irving Penn and the portrait is seen here on the cover of the 1962 Karsh book In Search of Greatness.

 

The educational children’s television program Sesame Street debuted on this day, November 10, in 1969, and featured Jim Henson’s Muppets. Sesame Street would go on to win multiple awards: as of 2014, Sesame Street has won 167 Emmy Awards and 8 Grammy Awards, more than any other children’s show.

Jim Henson was photographed in 1990, and his portrait was published in American Legends.

On this day, November 8, in 1960, John F. Kennedy became the youngest man ever to be elected president of the United States.

Karsh photographed a whole host of Kennedys, not least of all, Senator Edward Kennedy, in 1968, and Robert Kennedy, US Attorney General at the time, in 1962.

See John F. Kennedy on the cover of LIFE Magazine in 1961 and 1963.

French philosopher, author and journalist Albert Camus was born on this day, November 7, in 1913. Three years after he sat for Karsh, Camus would receive the Nobel Prize for Literature. He was the second-youngest recipient of this Prize, at the age of 44 – Rudyard Kipling was only 42 when he received his.

See some examples of other Nobel Prize Winners who were photographed by Karsh.

1954 was a busy year for Karsh, from Viscounts to Governors to Miss Canada – see who else he photographed.

On this day, November 5, in 1940, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was re-elected President of the United States for an unprecedented third term.

In 1936, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the first American President to pay an official visit to the Dominion of Canada. There to greet him and his son James Roosevelt were: Lord Tweedsmuir, Governor General of Canada; Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King; and, a great deal of International press. Read more about this important photograph.

French novelist and art theorist André Malraux was born on this day, November 3, in 1901. Malraux was appointed by President Charles de Gaulle as Minister of Information (19450-46) and subsequently as France’s first Minister of Cultural Affairs during de Gaulle’s presidency (1959-69).

André Malraux was photographed by Karsh in 1954. Charles de Gaulle was photographed in 1944.

The Estate received an inquiry from someone who owns a print of Jascha Heifetz. “I traded a violin bow for this portrait a while ago,” he told us, showing us a photo of the front and back of the print and asking if we had more information about it. The above, from the same sitting, was included in the PBS American Masters documentary Jascha Heifetz: God’s Fiddler.

Karsh photographed Jascha Heifetz in 1945 and in 1950.

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, fact, sensation, wit, humor, and news.” Karsh photographed several people for Collier’s. See the Sittings here.

A new book about Joan Crawford has just been released by Simon and Schuster – Joan Crawford: A Biography is written by Bob Thomas, whose other books include a biography of Walt Disney.

On October 30, 1938, Orson Welles supposedly* caused a nationwide panic with a radio broadcast of his adaptation of H. G. Wells’ War of the Worlds, the story of a Martian invasion of earth. Wells’ story was first serialized in magazines in 1897 and then published as a hard cover in 1898.

Karsh photographed H. G. Wells at home in London, England, in 1943.

*learn more.

Pablo Picasso was born on this day, October 25, in 1881.

Picasso was photographed by Karsh at Villa La Galloise, in July of 1954. “The maestro’s villa was a photographer’s nightmare, with his boisterous children bicycling through vast rooms already crowded with canvases. I eagerly accepted Picasso’s alternate suggestion to meet later in Vallauris at his ceramic gallery. ‘He will never be here,’ the gallery owner commented, when my assistant and two hundred pounds of equipment arrived. ‘He says the same thing to every photographer.’ To everyone’s amazement, the ‘old lion’ not only kept his photographic appointment with me but was prompt and wore a new shirt. He could partially view himself in my large format lens and intuitively moved to complete the composition.”

See more from the Sitting.

A little flurry of interest in Vannevar Bush recently. Bush was an early pioneer in computer science. In 1945 he published an essay, As We May Think, which “Has been described as visionary and influential, anticipating many aspects of information society. Bush expresses his concern for the direction of scientific efforts toward destruction, rather than understanding, and explicates a desire for a sort of collective memory machine with his concept of the memex that would make knowledge more accessible, believing that it would help fix these problems. Through this machine, Bush hoped to transform an information explosion into a knowledge explosion.” (Wikipedia)

Vannevar Bush was photographed by Karsh in 1950, the year legislation to create the National Science Foundation passed through Congress and was signed into law by President Truman. The Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering; Bush was chiefly responsible for the movement that led to its creation.

Bush was photographed again in 1958.

Angela Lansbury was born on this day, October 16, in 1925, which makes her just 21 years old in this portrait. Among the approximately 200 people Karsh photographed in 1946 were many Hollywood celebrities, including Elizabeth Taylor, Judy Garland, Bette Davis, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff, and Gregory Peck.

Karsh would photograph Lansbury again in 1991. The multiple-award-winning British-American actor was made a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II in 2014.

On this day, October 15, in 1990, Mikhail Gorbachev was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize “for his leading role in the peace process which today characterizes important parts of the international community.”

In 1985 Gorbachev was elected the new leader of the Soviet Union. He sought to reform communism, and introduced the concepts “glasnost” (openness) and “perestroika” (change). Read more on the Nobel Prize website.

By 1990, two years before closing his studio, Karsh was beginning to slow down a little, photographing only about 100 people that year. See all the Sittings listed for 1990.

From the very beginning of his career, Karsh was photographing almost daily. His work included weddings, passport photos, children and pets, dignitaries, as well as the theatre and some advertising. During this period, he was also experimenting with optics and Surrealism.

This nude study of Karsh’s first wife, Solange, consisted of four negatives carefully sandwiched together. This was long before the invention of Photoshop or digital manipulation and it required a great deal of skill, finesse, and technique in every step of the process – the exposures, the developing of the negatives, and the making of the final print.

See all of the Sittings by date.

Francois Mauriac was born on this day, October 11, in 1885. He was a French novelist, dramatist, critic, poet, and journalist, and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1952.

When Karsh photographed him in 1949 he encountered a problem.

“Paris was without electric power when I photographed the eminent Catholic writer. My assistant and I had valiantly climbed five endless Parisian flights of stairs with heavy equipment, in the vain hope that electricity would soon be restored. It was late in the afternoon and we would not soon have the opportunity to meet again. So, using a bed sheet borrowed from his housekeeper as a reflector, I caught his aristocratic silhouette in the available light of an open French window.”

Mauriac would be photographed in Paris a second time, in 1965.

On this day, October 9, 1975, Dr. Andrei Sakharov was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace. Sakharov was a Russian nuclear physicist, dissident, and activist for disarmament, peace and human rights. Karsh photographed him in February, 1989, not long before Sakharov died of a heart attack the following December.

In December of 2016, this Karsh photograph of Sakharov from the same sitting was used as a large banner for an Andrei Sakharov Memorial Concert held in Kiev.

Thanksgiving has been officially celebrated as an annual holiday in Canada since November 6, 1879, when parliament passed a law designating a national day of thanksgiving. The date, however, was not fixed and moved earlier and later in the year, though it was commonly the third Monday in October.

On January 31, 1957, the Governor General of Canada Vincent Massey issued a proclamation stating: “A Day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed – to be observed on the second Monday in October.” (Wikipedia)

Vincent Massey was photographed by Karsh on four occasions.

The October issue of Canada’s House and Home includes this photograph of T. H. Robsjohn-Gibbings in an article about styling a room. Referring to a visit to a friend’s place, Lynda Reeves asks him about a sofa and two armchairs:

“T. H. Robsjohn-Gibbings,” he replied. If you aren’t familiar with the great British-born American tastemaker and furniture designer of the mid 1900s who established a style of decorating for the new post-war American home, I can tell you that his name is code for “fabulous, cool and very expensive.”

T. H. Robsjohn-Gibbings was photographed in 1945 for House Beautiful Magazine.

“At the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, there is a print depicting two people juggling tiny, dot-like balls. They’re struggling to keep the balls in the air, but they’re smiling all the same.

“The print took center stage Wednesday at The City Talks: Climate Change, a discussion at the museum that was inspired by climate change and race themes in a featured exhibit on the natural world, “Follow the North Star: Inuit Art from the Collection of Estrellita and Yousuf Karsh.” Read more on the Boston University News Service.

See all of the events going on around this exhibition.

Graham Greene was born on this day, October 2, in 1904. The award-winning novelist, and international spy, was photographed by Karsh in May of 1964, one day after Karsh photographed Paul Getty, of Getty Oil, and a day before he photographed Charles Forte, founder of the Forte hotel group.

Karsh famously over-prepared for his meeting with Ernest Hemingway in advance of photographing him, resulting in a Daiquiri-related faux pas at breakfast, the story of which is here. Graham Greene also had a preferred drink. Thanks to Wikipedia, here is the recipe:

“The cocktail was invented at the Metropole Hotel, Hanoi, Vietnam in 1951. The rebellious communist and some-time guilty but roguish Catholic was an interesting character and one worthy of this intriguing cocktail.

Generously fill a shaker with ice to the top 25ml Vermouth 1 dash Crème De Cassis (or to your taste); 50ml good quality London Dry Gin; A couple of Juniper Berries crushed (for a twist).

Pour in the measures of Vermouth and Cassis and stir them around the ice liberally for a few minutes, once the mixture is mixed add the slug of Gin, stir again, then give it a brief shake and serve double strained in a chilled Martini Glass.”

From A Brief Biography: “While my career seemed to be well launched, I had few friends in Ottawa during those early months, and I welcomed an invitation to join the Ottawa Little Theatre, an enthusiastic group of amateur players. The casual invitation was to have lasting effects on my life and career. The experience of photographing actors on the stage with stage lighting was exhilarating. The unlimited possibilities of artificial light overwhelmed me.” Learn about Karsh’s cameras and lighting.

“The Young Lord Duncannon, son of Lord Bessborough, the Governor General, was an enthusiastic fellow-member of the Ottawa Little Theatre. He encouraged me to portray his parents, opening yet another door of opportunity to a young photographer.”

Hugh Hefner, editor-in-chief and publisher of Playboy magazine, and founder and chief creative officer of Playboy Enterprises, has died. Hefner was also a political activist and philanthropist in several causes and public issues. He was photographed by Yousuf Karsh in 1970.

Relationships with the relatives and estates of Yousuf Karsh’s subjects can turn up interesting stories and personal photos, and lead to new uses of the images. The Salk Institute is one example, and the Karsh estate has worked with Salk’s estate on various projects, including a mural at the Jonas Salk Elementary School in Mira Mesa, San Diego. This image is also used by the Salk Institute in various promotional pieces.

Salk’s estate shared this photograph from the sitting, where the young girl who had received this injection was none too pleased, despite Salk and Karsh trying to comfort her.

Karsh photographed Jonas Salk in 1956, and again in 1991.

Sophia Loren was born on this day, September 20, in 1934.

“When an actress has the intelligence and professionalism, as well as the beauty, of Sophia Loren, photographing her becomes a highly enjoyable collaboration. We worked together in her Paris apartment, in the early afternoon. She was very much a mother, and adored her two young sons. As our session ended they returned home from school, and I was touched by the outpouring of mutual love and affection.” Yousuf Karsh, from “A Biography in Images.”

Sophia Loren was photographed for Paris Match. See more.

The Karsh Award honors the artistic legacy of Yousuf Karsh and his brother Malak Karsh, while continuing an intergenerational chain of mentorship that fosters camera-based innovation.

Seven past Karsh Award laureates have selected seven emergent artists, Joi T. Arcand, AM Dumouchel, Leslie Hossack, Olivia Johnston, Julia Martin, Meryl McMaster and Ruth Steinberg, who will be featured in Continuum: Karsh Award artists welcome a new generation, an upcoming exhibition curated by Melissa Rombout at the City of Ottawa Karsh-Masson Gallery. The artists met with Mrs. Karsh for a cosy reception at the Fairmont Chateau Laurier, where Yousuf Karsh’s studio was located.

“Continuum is a project based on connecting many moments in time. It was conceived as a way to celebrate a new wave of emerging Ottawa artists during Canada’s sesquicentennial year. Recipients of the City of Ottawa’s prestigious Karsh Award were invited to choose a local Ottawa artist working with photography as a medium, a relative newcomer to stand in the spotlight.

“The Karsh photographers, innovators stylistically, gracious in comportment and masters of film-based photography, would no doubt be astonished and delighted by the myriad of camera-based practices in this exhibition, and their roles as progenitors of a chain of connection radiating outward. These common threads of welcome entwine here.” – From the catalogue essay by Melissa Rombout.

Continuum runs from September 14 to October 22, 2017 at Karsh-Masson Gallery, City Hall, 110 Laurier Avenue West, Ottawa, ON. Vernissage: Thursday, September 14, 5:30 to 7:30 pm. Tour with the curator: Sunday, September 24, 2 pm.

The New Generation:

“To the depth of a plow” is an elegy for my father, a farmer on the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation (Saskatchewan), Treaty Six Territory. These photographs were taken during the farm auction marking the end of his career, linking his personal narrative to the spirit and intent of the Treaty to share land with the newcomers only “to the depth of a plow”.

Well into the 20th century, systemic racism and government policies such as the pass and permit systems restricted the travelling and business practices of reserve farmers. Despite these and the challenges of securing financing for farm operations, my father worked the land to make a living at a time when opportunities for First Nations farmers were severely limited.”

“My goal is to push the limits of photography through digital manipulation, image appropriation, scanning and the use of photograms. Abandoning the camera allows me to explore a hybrid photographic language.

Flesh and Stones is a triptych of collages composed of hundreds of digitized and manipulated objects (primarily meat and jewellery) through which the symbolism seems to find an echo in feminine artifice. Moving from the physical world to the virtual, these objects are transformed into unlikely and threatening bodies that exist on the line between the attractive and the repulsive.

“Taking inspiration from representations of femininity in religious iconography and on Instagram, I see these images as allegorical portraits of the contemporary body.”

“I am drawn to locations associated with the monumental events of the mid 20th century, such as Hitler’s Berlin, Stalin’s Moscow and Churchill’s London.

H-Hour, Normandy 1944 is a work in four parts: Juno Beach, Atlantic Wall, Official Telegrams and War Graves. My objective was to stand on the landing beaches at first light on June 6th, D-Day. I was acutely aware of the longing and loss all around me, as I photographed the empty silence.

I hope that these images of memory and commemoration will inspire viewers to look, listen, reflect, enquire and imagine.”

“I am entranced by images of the Virgin Mary, one of the most prevalent figures in Western Art. She may be depicted serenely framed by her transcendental golden halo; at other times, she expresses entirely human emotions like fear, grief, or ecstasy. She is one of us, she is all of us.

As an atheist, I cannot see myself partaking in religious rituals; however, I am fascinated by these rituals. In The Madonnas series, Mary is human yet mystic, real yet strange, contemporary yet age-old. I breathe life into her, distributing her identity amongst friends, family and acquaintances. I seek her; she seeks me.”

“These works are from the series Normal Wear and Tear. In the literature guiding pet owners through the process of putting down an ailing animal, there is a list of questions to consider.

Its physical state must be observed: Is the animal tearing at itself? Is it missing hair? Does it hide itself away out of reach?

I read the last questions over and over:
Does it still like to play? Does it seem happy?

Sometimes I observe myself in a mirror, in photographs and ask:
Does it still like to play? Does it seem happy?”

“In Wanderings, I have created dreamlike images with imaginary creatures to act as my guides on a journey toward an unknown future.

In my travels, I am accompanied by a red thread or the colour red, a constant reminder of the inescapable factors that make us who we are—our past, our circumstance or our genes.

“Not all who wander are lost,” observes J.R.R. Tolkien: tethered as we may be to the past and all that makes us who we are, I still seek a world of boundless possibilities of the person I may become.”

“What the Body Remembers is a series of nude portraits of older women. Aging bodies are practically invisible in real life and in artistic representations; in particular, women “of a certain age” are not considered sensual, vibrant, passionate or heroic.

This raises important questions for me: Whose judgement creates the reluctance to accept that our own bodies will thicken, wrinkle and scar, and our posture will be less upright than when we were young? Why are our capabilities and our appetites considered to diminish with age? Why is it difficult to look at the evidence of time and life on the body?”

Learn more on the Karsh-Masson Gallery’s webpage.