Portraits in disguise - NPG P490(79)
John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir
by Yousuf Karsh
1937
NPG P490(79)
It seems particularly fitting that Canada's most famous photographer, Karsh, should photograph John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir (1875-1940), best known as the author of The Thirty-Nine Steps, for he served as Governor-General of Canada from 1935 to 1940. Karsh created this image of Tweedsmuir four years before his celebrated portrait of Winston Churchill, a picture that was to transform his photographic reputation, but already in 1937 we can see the importance in his work of dramatic lighting and the ability to convey a certain gravitas by means of isolating the sitter. The headdress is part of native American Indian ceremonial costume, and lends a wonderful air to this portrayal of a Governor-General.
Gerald Brockhurst
by Howard Coster, 1937
NPG X3163 (Detail)
An elegant,
well-tailored three-piece single-breasted chalk-striped suit.
The out-breast welt pocket shows the tip of a handkerchief.
