Malak Karsh
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Malak Karsh, MPA. (March 1, 1915 – November 8, 2001) was a Canadian photographer of
Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
heritage best known for his photographs of Canada and the
Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
region.


Career

Born in
Mardin Mardin ( ku, Mêrdîn; ar, ماردين; syr, ܡܪܕܝܢ, Merdīn; hy, Մարդին) is a city in southeastern Turkey. The capital of Mardin Province, it is known for the Artuqid architecture of its old city, and for its strategic location on ...
,
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
, a few months before the
Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was ...
, he emigrated to Canada in 1937 and began a career in photography with the help of his brother
Yousuf Karsh Yousuf Karsh, FRPS (December 23, 1908 – July 13, 2002) was a Canadian-Armenian photographer known for his portraits of notable individuals. He has been described as one of the greatest portrait photographers of the 20th century. An Armenian ...
and his uncle George Nakash, both accomplished photographers. Malak Karsh was one of Canada's most renowned photographers. He had many photographic exhibitions including exhibitions at the
National Arts Centre The National Arts Centre (NAC) (french: Centre national des Arts) is a Arts centre, performing arts organisation in Ottawa, Ontario, along the Rideau Canal. It is based in the eponymous National Arts Centre (building), National Arts Centre build ...
, the Museums of Nature and History, the Ottawa Congress Centre, in Holland and other countries. His awards included the Order of Canada, the Keys to the City of Ottawa, the Whitton Award, the Professional Photographers of Canada's award as a Master of the Photographs Arts, the CAPIC Lifetime Achievement Award, Photographer of the Year, and the National Film Board of Canada's Gold Medal. In 1952 Malak's fascination with Canada's Capital and the tulips that graced the city following Queen Juliana's gift of 100,000 tulip bulbs inspired Malak's to conceive of an annual tulip festival in Ottawa and working with the Ottawa Board of Trade the
Canadian Tulip Festival The Canadian Tulip Festival (french: Festival Canadien des Tulipes; nl, Canadees Festival van de Tulp) is a tulip festival, held annually in May in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The festival claims to be the world's largest tulip festival, displaying o ...
was established in 1952. According to Ottawa mayor
Bob Chiarelli Robert Chiarelli (born September 24, 1941) is a Canadian politician. He was a Liberal member in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario who served from 1987 to 1997 and again from 2010 to 2018 who represented the ridings of Ottawa West and Ottawa W ...
, "He helped put Ottawa on the map. Probably the biggest and best brand for Ottawa was his tulips." Malak was the honorary president of the festival at the time of his death. In 1963, he took a picture of the floating logs on the
Ottawa River The Ottawa River (french: Rivière des Outaouais, Algonquin: ''Kichi-Sìbì/Kitchissippi'') is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It is named after the Algonquin word 'to trade', as it was the major trade route of Eastern ...
, called ''Paper and Politics'', which was put on the back of the 1969-1979 Scenes of Canada series Canadian $1 bill. In 1996, he was made an Officer of the
Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...
. In 2005, the city of Ottawa established the Karsh Award, honouring Ottawa photo-based artists, in honour of Malak and Yousuf Karsh."The Picture of Excellence," ''The Ottawa Citizen'', 14 February 2005, p. B4.
Library and Archives Canada Library and Archives Canada (LAC; french: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada) is the federal institution, tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is th ...
have approximately 400,000 photographic images acquired in 1985 and 2015 from Malak's vast library of transparencies, negatives and prints. The images, captured between 1940 and 2001, include many colour photographs of Parliament Hill and the tulip festival, along with landscapes of Canada from sea to sea to sea. Other images feature Canadians at work in agriculture, forestry, industry and the arts. Malak Karsh died on November 8, 2001 at the age of 86. He is buried in
Maclaren Cemetery Maclaren Cemetery is a small cemetery in the town of Wakefield, Quebec and the final resting place for Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson. Established near the 1870s, the cemetery is located in the clearing below the hills bordering the Gatineau R ...
in
Wakefield, Quebec Wakefield is one of many villages of the Municipality La Pêche, with the village centre on the western shore of the Gatineau River, at the confluence of the La Pêche River in the Outaouais region of the province of Quebec in Canada. It is thirty- ...
.


Further reading

*


References


External links

* http://www.armeniapedia.org/index.php?title=Malak_Karsh * http://www.malakofottawa.ca {{DEFAULTSORT:Karsh, Malak 1915 births 2001 deaths People from Mardin Canadian people of Armenian descent Ethnic Armenian photographers Canadian photographers Officers of the Order of Canada Armenians from the Ottoman Empire Armenian genocide survivors