37.7 cm x 49.4 cm
This is a coloured photographic print of Queen Elizabeth II. It is set on a cream coloured paper board. The half-length portrait features the Queen seated in a golden armchair in the centre of print with a fan in her proper left hand. The Queen's proper left hand is placed on the golden lion head handle of the armchair. The Queen wears a white gown, a blue sash, and a diamond tiara. She faces toward her proper right and gazes into the distance. The background of the print is black. On the bottom of the paper board, there is a title of the print in black lettering that reads "HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH II".
Yousuf Karsh was an Armenian-Canadian photographer, and one of the most famous portrait photographers in history. Born in Mardin, Armenia (modern day Turkey) in 1908, Karsh lived through the Armenian genocide. After witnessing the deaths of several of his family members, Karsh and his family escaped to a refuge camp in Aleppo, Syria. Karsh migrated to Canada in 1923, he worked for and learned from his uncle Nakash, who was an established portrait photographer. From 1928 to 1931, Karsh apprenticed for John H, Caro in Boston, where he developed his distinctive styles of photography. Karsh left Boston in 1931 and moved to Ottawa to open his independent studio. Karsh's 1941 portrait of Winston Churchill brought him prominence and began his career of photographing celebrities.
