22:11 Portrait of Churchill by Karsh | |
Karsh created his famous
portrait of Churchill during the early years of World War II in 1941.
Churchill, the British prime minister, had just addressed the Canadian
Parliament and Karsh was there to record one of the century's great leaders.
"He was in no mood for portraiture and two minutes were all that he would
allow me as he passed from the House of Commons chamber to an anteroom,"
Karsh wrote in Faces of Our
Time. "Two niggardly minutes in which I must try to put on film a man
who had already written or inspired a library of books, baffled all his
biographers, filled the world with his fame, and me, on this occasion, with
dread." Churchill marched into the
room scowling, "regarding my camera as he might regard the German
enemy." His expression suited Karsh perfectly, but the cigar stuck between
his teeth seemed incompatible with such a solemn and formal occasion. "Instinctively,
I removed the cigar. At this the Churchillian scowl deepened, the head was
thrust forward belligerently, and the hand placed on the hip in an attitude of
anger." The image captured
Churchill and the Britain of the time perfectly — defiant and unconquerable. Churchill
later said to him, "You can even make a roaring lion stand still to be
photographed." As such, Karsh titled the photograph, The Roaring Lion. However, Karsh's favourite
photograph was the one taken immediately after this one where Churchill's mood
had lightened considerably and is shown much in the same pose, but smiling. | |
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The image of Churchill
brought Karsh international prominence, and is claimed to be the most
reproduced photographic portrait in history| Total comments: 4 | |||||
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