Lot #72: Canadian One Dollar 1973

The beautiful mishapOn a sunny summer day in 1963, Aldomat Legault was piloting a small tugboat, the Missinaibi, towing a log boom up the Ottawa River to the E.B. Eddy plant. Without warning, the boom broke open and thousands of logs escaped, drifting in the strong current. With help from other boats on the Ottawa that day, Legault was able to gather the logs back together and finish his delivery. Its not often you see that kind of break, recalled Legault in an interview with the Ottawa Citizen. It was quite a sight right in front of the Parliament Buildings.When the boom broke, photographer Malak Karsh happened to be at the E.B. Eddy plant on the Hull shore. He was on assignment for the Canadian Pulp and Paper Association. Attracted by the amazing sight of a river full of logs, he stepped aboard another tugboat and took what became one of his most famous images. Malak Karsh was a noted photographer who worked in the Ottawa area on commercial and industrial assignments. And yes, famous portrait photographer Yousef Karsh was his big brother.