Born in Mardin, Ottoman Empire, a few months before the Armenian genocide, he emigrated to Canada in 1937 and began a career in photography with the help of his brother Yousuf Karsh and his uncle George Nakash, both accomplished photographers.

He had many photographic exhibitions including exhibitions at the National Arts Centre, the Museums of Nature and History, the Ottawa Congress Centre, in Holland and other countries.

"[1] Malak was the honorary president of the festival at the time of his death.

In 1963, he took a picture of the floating logs on the Ottawa River, called Paper and Politics, which was put on the back of the 1969-1979 Scenes of Canada series Canadian $1 bill.

Other images feature Canadians at work in agriculture, forestry, industry and the arts.