“A very fine photographer in Montreal was
Sam Tata. He was Indian, a Parsee, a small
brown man who had studied with Cartier-Bresson.
His skill was noted everywhere. He believed in
surroundings. He would never take a face, a head
only, though Karsh, another famed Canadian
photographer, did nothing else. Sam called me one
day and asked if he could come over. He wanted me
to wear no make-up, to dress in my oldest blouse
and dirtiest slacks. The result was the photo here,
which has been copied many times, notably on the
cover of my memoir, Landscapes of the Heart.”