Which Karsh B&W portrait is your favorite?

[B.S.Kumar]

I picked up a slightly frayed copy of his book in Bombay, long before I got interested in photography. I had just seen the movie Roman Holiday, and was enthralled by Audrey Hepburn, who was as beautiful in the book as in the movie.

Kumar

[neil poulsen]

My favorite Karsh is the 1954 photograph he took of Pablo Casals warming up in a round, rock room.

Casals has his back to the camera, but you know instantly who it is.

That's a great photograph!

Here's an example on Flickr. http://www.flickr.com/photos/shelchen9210/2896842462/

[Jim Shanesy]

Jean Sibelius.

He took a lot of pictures of Sibelius. My favorite Karsh portrait is this one, because of the overall sense of light. It glows.

[Bill_1856]

I'm lucky to own a Karsh "Churchill," so of course that's my favorite, as it is a unique and ikonic image.
Of his "ordinary" images, I recently saw a picture (in the National Geographic, I believe) and without reading the caption I said to myself, "That must be Sir Edmund Hillary, and it had to be taken by Karsh!" I was right, of course, as the essence of the great man almost exploded off the page.
Mein Gott, such insight as Karsh sometimes had!

http://www.pixelsaway.com/gravures/d...ry/hillary.htm

[Hovmod]

He took a lot of pictures of Sibelius. My favorite Karsh portrait is this one, because of the overall sense of light. It glows.

Outstanding.
But wouldn't someone here have told me that I blew it, cutting his finger like that, had I posted that portrait under my name?

[neil poulsen]

Outstanding.
But wouldn't someone here have told me that I blew it, cutting his finger like that, had I posted that portrait under my name?

It would be interesting to have access to the negative, to determine whether that was the limit of the negative, or whether it was deliberate.

For me, it's a stronger photograph with the fingers cut off in that fashion.

[Jim Shanesy]

Outstanding.
But wouldn't someone here have told me that I blew it, cutting his finger like that, had I posted that portrait under my name?

Yes, someone here would have done so. What's worse, they would also have told Karsh.

[CarstenW]

I also think I prefer the Hemingway, but he has so many good ones, it is hard to choose. Shaw, Sibelius, Churchill, Grace Kelly, Castro, Giacometti, Georgia O'Keefe, Mauriac, Schweitzer, Picasso... I also love his Kruschev portrait, but find his JFK oddly lacking.