I first heard about the impending release of the Jackie Kennedy tapes a few weeks ago when a tabloid called looking for Karsh photographs to illustrate an article. I declined and forgot about it until the tapes started to hit the news and I found myself listening agog.

Yousuf Karsh photographed Mrs Kennedy in 1957, and here is his story:

"Widowhood and adversity had not yet touched the glamorous young wife of the handsome Senator from Massachusetts. Our meeting was at Hammersmith, her mother's home in Newport. I photographed her against a Coromandel screen that complemented her dark beauty. Weeks later, in New York, she saw me walking down Fifth Avenue and rushed toward me to inquire breathlessly about her photographs. Our last meeting was shortly before her untimely death, when she came to my exhibition 'American Legends.' She stood alone at the entrance, her quiet presence penetrating the crowd."

Jacqueline Kennedy, 1957 © Yousuf Karsh