René Clair

Karsh, Yousuf, 1908-2002 · 1954

Though he has given the world some of its greatest cinematic productions, René Clair is the least dramatic and certainly one of the most modest men I have ever photographed. He sat for me in his Paris home in 1954. He moves about lightly, like a ballerina. He speaks softly. But in everything he says about his work and the work of others there is a fire of conviction. He is a clear-headed self-contained man who knows his own mind and he has mastered his own art... At the conclusion of the sitting Clair's son joined us. He is an able fashion magazine photographer and his father showed me some of his work. I sense that Clair was prouder of his son's achievements than his own (Karsh, 1959).