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The story behind the famous Churchill portrait |
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A new book on the life of famed Canadian portrait photographer Yousuf Karsh – Portrait in Light and Shadow: The Life of Yousuf Karsh – explains in detail the famous portrait he took of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in  1941.
Churchill was in North America in December of 1941 primarily for meetings for U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt after the U.S. entered World War II after the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7.
On December 30, Churchill addressed the Canadian Parliament and, according to the new book by Maria Tippett, Karsh was sent to photograph him after the speech. But Churchill was “grumpy” and wanted to continue smoking his cigar, even in the picture. Karsh is to have said “I don’t want to take another one of those damn cigar portraits,” and went up to Churchill and firmly but politely removed the cigar from his mouth!
Churchill, already seated for the portrait, simply scowled and Karsh captured the image, perhaps the best known of Churchill during the war period.
Churchill was reportedly impressed with Karsh’s boldness and told the photographer, “You can even make a roaring lion stand still to be photographed.” As it turned out, it was worth the trouble.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 04 December 2007 )
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