Portrait of the Artist

Yousuf Karsh's iconic portrait of Ernest Hemingway in Havana.

This photo, captured by renowned portrait photographer Yousuf Karsh, is one of the most iconic images of Ernest Hemingway. Karsh made the image at Hemingway’s home in Cuba in 1957. Like many photographers, his sharp eye allowed him to glimpse into the spirit of his subject. He writes eloquently about the man he discovered in his book Regarding Heroes.

“I expected to meet in the author a composite image of his creations. Instead, in 1957, at his home near Havana, I found a man of peculiar gentleness, the shyest of men I ever photographed. Therein, I imagine, lies the secret of his work. He has felt in his soul, with lonely anguish, the tragedy of our species, he’s expressed it in his writing, but for self-protection has built around himself a wall of silence and myth. … I discovered that he had a wonderful smile – alive, kindly, and full of understanding. But on developing my negatives, I liked best the portrait printed here. It is, I think, a true portrait, the face of a giant cruelly battered by life, but invincible.”

Battered, yes. Invincible, no.

What do you see in the photo? I see aging eyes that have seen the world. Their stoicism is slipping into sadness. A full face, a full beard, a man full of life. Maybe too full.

Mostly, I find myself wondering: What was Hemingway doing with a heavy rollneck sweater in Havana?

This entry was posted on November 11, 2009 at 10:36 am and is filed under Cuba. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.