Karsh and the Brownie Camera.

Someone asked about how Karsh lighted his portraits and the camera

he used. Well on one occasion he used a brownie camera and outdoor

lighting. My family had given me a box brownie for my birthday in

1933. I was having difficulty getting good exposures and it was

suggested that I go and see Mr. Karsh who had recently purchased a

summer cottage in our community at Tenaga Quebec. I duly arrived and

knocked on the door of the cottage and was greeted by Jousefs brother

Malak .When I told him my problem he asked if I had film in the

camera and I replied yes verichrome. Fine he said I`ll get Yousef and

we`ll go outside and take some pictures. At this date neither of the

Karshes had any sort of reputation as photographers.Indeed Yousef had

been working as a darkroom assistant at a relatives shop .Out we went

and Jousef took a number of pictures of Malak and myself and

described what he was doing . Returning the camera to me he told me

to get the film p[rocessed and bring it back to show him the results.

This i did and recieved more friendly instruction.

It was only a few years before Jousef became the toast of the

photographic world but I remember him best as a nice fellow who

helped a yougstr get started in photography.

If I have a favorite photo, it's Karsh's portrait of Sibelius. I suspect that he didn't use a Brownie for it, though!

I`m sure you are right Bruce. His studio camera was of course a large 8x10 wooden view camera,and when he dissapeared under the black cloth you could be certain that magic would appear. There was a sad followup to Karshes purchase of a summer cottage. In the early dirty thirties people were suffering;in Ottawa many had lost their jobs with the federal government. Many blamed this economic downturn on the Jewish presence. As you no doubt know Jousef had emigrated from Armenia and to suspicious locals of Tenaga he was considered to be Jewish and was not welcome in a WASP environment. As a result Malek purchased a cottage on the opposite side of the Gatineau River at the mouth of Blackburns Creek and Jousef could be seen there on weekends I made a point of paddling over to the creek frequently just to wave hello and on occasion was invited to come ashore. It is a sad commentary on the social order at the turn of the century.