Motivation Monday - Malak Karsh

Malak Karsh was born in March of 1915 in Mardin, Ottoman Empire. He emigrated to Canada in 1937 and began working with his brother Yousuf. As his brother became overwhelmingly famous, Malak left the Karsh from his signature to separate himself and his art. I personally don't feel like you can really compare the art of the two brothers as they photographed such different subjects and in such different ways, and feel that they are both absolutely amazing photographers from whom I could learn so much. I have also written about Malak before, but feel that he has inspired me so much, that I wanted to create another post about him.
Malak seemed to have fallen in love with Ottawa and the vast majority of his work centres around the City. In the words of Caroline Murray, "Malak Karsh's exquisite photos chronicled a city and a nation." He not only had a large collection of images from the Tulip Festival, which we all know I absolutely love, but he was also one of the founders of the festival and was the honourary president at the time of his death in November of 2001. According to Mayor Bob Chiarelli, "He helped put Ottawa on the map. Probably the biggest and best brand for Ottawa was his tulips." The City of Ottawa has an annual photography award in honour of Malak and his brother Yousuf which you can get more information about here.Malak's 1963 photograph entitled "Paper and Politics" was used on the 1969-1979 one dollar bill. The image is of floating logs on the Ottawa River with the Parliament Buildings in the background. It is one of those photographs that exemplifies that timing and being at the right place at the right time are crucial factors that go along with technique, skill and knowledge when it comes to capturing a great photo. Like his brother, Malak published several books of his collections. They are also a large part of the Tulip Festival publications. His work inspires me in a way that Yousuf and Steve McCurry's does not in that it is very similar to the style of photography I enjoy and am getting quite good at. They are of places and things that are around me on a daily basis. I am able to directly compare some of my works to his and see where I can improve and perhaps how.