GUS (Gave Up Smoking) is a community support diary for Kossacks in the midst of quitting smoking. Any supportive comments, suggestions or positive distractions are appreciated. If you are quitting or thinking of quitting, please -- join us! You can also click the GUS tag to view all diary posts.
That is how I think of Yousuf Karsh, Canadian portraitist. The 7th anniversary of his death passed recently, on July 13th -- very quietly, without much fanfare or notice. I like to think Karsh would have liked it that way. He was a quiet man who seemed to prefer to let his work speak for him; and although he was a regular self-portraitist, he never seemed to reveal anything about himself in them. He seems more like a place-holder for another subject, as though his pictures of himself were useful only as exercises in lighting and shade, focus and texture, never as a vehicle for self-expression.
More below the fold....
