ca. 1963]. · [Np
by Karsh, Yousuf
[Np: The Photographer, ca. 1963].. Original glossy double-weight gelatin silver print from negative, 11 X 14" (inclusive of margins, image size 10.75 x 12.5"). Captioned in pencil on verso. About fine. An original print of one of the sequence of superb photographs taken by Yousuf Karsh on location in South Africa during the filming of the 1964 Diamond Films production, ZULU, directed by Cy Endfield. Karsh's invitation to join the production and photograph the cast and locale resulted in a sequence of photographs of a very high order. The present image, half-length formal portrait of future political leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi in character as Zulu King Cetshwayo kaMpande, shows the subject from waist up, dressed in animal skins, with an enormous elephant tusk arching in the background. The image is identified as "No. 5-17" in the series and captioned "Chief Butalezi [sic] in his ancestral robes." Although this project is not as widely known as Karsh's formal portraiture, examples of the resulting images have featured prominently in both museum and print retrospectives of his career. (Inventory #: WRCLIT75490)