This, surely, has to be one of the greatest 'portrait' photographs ever taken. Apart from the fact that it captures exactly the very essence of the man, it has had to stand comparison with the hundreds - thousands? - of photos taken over the years of a man who dominates 20th century history. It also encapsulates for me the essence of photograpy itself, that is, its essentially accidental nature.
The circumstances under which it occurred are told by the photographer himself, Yousef Karsh, and for his extreme 'courage' in the face of an old and very belligerent lion he deserves the fame that ensued from his picture. He describes it in his own words:
After the electrifying speech, I waited in the Speaker’s Chamber where, the evening before, I had set up my lights and camera. The Prime Minister, arm-in-arm with Churchill and followed by his entourage, started to lead him into the room. I switched on my floodlights; a surprised Churchill growled, “What’s this, what’s this?” No one had the courage to explain. I timorously stepped forward and said, “Sir, I hope I will be fortunate enough to make a portrait worthy of this historic occasion.” He glanced at me and demanded, “Why was I not told?” When his entourage began to laugh, this hardly helped matters for me. Churchill lit a fresh cigar, puffed at it with a mischievous air, and then magnanimously relented. “You may take one.” Churchill’s cigar was ever present. I held out an ashtray, but he would not dispose of it. I went back to my camera and made sure that everything was all right technically. I waited; he continued to chomp vigorously at his cigar. I waited. Then I stepped toward him and, without premeditation, but ever so respectfully, I said, “Forgive me, sir,” and plucked the cigar out of his mouth. By the time I got back to my camera, he looked so belligerent he could have devoured me. It was at that instant that I took the photograph.
Actually, Churchill was magnanimous enough to allow Karsh to take another photograph:
Perhaps his loved ones preferred the second, smiling picture but I think most outsiders would choose the first for capturing the spirit of the man.
