Carl Sandburg

Karsh, Yousuf, 1908-2002 · 1954

The American poet and acclaimed biographer of Abraham Lincoln could only spare a few minutes in my New York studio. His tall, broad figure, massive, rough-hewn face, clear eyes and the mane of white hair falling across his forehead brought to his mind, a life-sized statue carved by a sculptor. He was a self-made man. The poverty of his childhood and the years of labor as jack-of-all-trades since age thirteen were written on his face and expressed in his eloquent, blunt speech. We discussed our mutual admiration for the photographer Edward Steichen, his brother-in-law and my idol (Karsh, 2003).