Faces of Our Time

by Yousuf Karsh

Yousuf Karsh was one of the premier portrait photographers of the 20th century. Among the personalities portrayed in this volume are Marian Anderson, Pablo Casals, Marc Chagall, Winston Churchill, Albert Einstein, Queen Elizabeth, Robert Frost, Ernest Hemingway, Helen Keller, John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Nikita Khrushchev, W. Somerset Maugham, Marcel Marceau, Richard Nixon, Georgia O'Keefe, Laurence Olivier, Pope Paul VI, Pablo Picasso, Albert Schweitzer, George Bernard Shaw, Tennessee Williams, and John Steinbeck. 204 pages; 48 full-page sheet-fed, gravure-printed b&w plates; 12.5 x 9 inches.

Hardcover

First published February 10, 1972

Reviews

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a demonstration of the fact that Karsh was an extraordinary photographer. These pictures of 48 of the most famous people over the decades that Karsh was most active capture the people in harsh and realistic black and white. “Gritty” is the most accurate word to describe their appearance, Karsh describes how difficult it was to capture some of the images. In some cases, there was not much time, in others there were environmental issues and sometimes things just did not work out at first.
Yet, the struggle was well worth it, some of the images, such as those of Winston Churchill and the two Popes, capture history. Many of the featured people are artists, or involved in entertainment, acting and writing for entertainment. Great scientists such as Albert Einstein and Robert Oppenheimer also appear, although females are almost completely absent. Short biographies of the featured people are also included.
Iconic photos are by definition rare events, except for some people that manage to take one on a regular basis. As can be seen here, Karsh is such a person.

[Davida · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just read through this at my grandmother's house. He has done some of the world's most famous photographs and I had never heard of him! Yikes! Such beautiful work.