Daša Ferklová
Born in the city of Brno, Skřipský spent most of his career in Slovakia and died in Switzerland. While he travelled as a young tourist, he developed liking for making photographs. An admirer of the nature and mountains of Slovakia, Skřipský relocated to Slovakia in 1932. He built a hotel in 1934, now known as the Mountain hotel Štefanová near the village of Terchová which he operated as an accommodation facility. He published some of his photos in several publications. He had his first independent exhibition in a Brno museum in the mid-1930s. This exhibition won him reputation among photographers. He revived his endeavours as a photographer after WWII when he became a cinematography and director in the Slovak Film and director of the Studio of popular-science films. Year 1968 was a breaking point in the life of Karol Skřipský, dividing his film-making and photography-making career into two periods (1930 – 1968 and 1968 – 1993). Film-making activity and photography dominated the period one. Skřipský made 50+ films between 1947 and 1968, emphasizing harmony between human being and nature. Some of his ethnographic films have been awarded. Photography dominates period two of his creative life, the 1970s and 1980s, and the early 1990s. He travelled a lot and made pictures in Italy, Spain, France, Israel, the U.S.A., Sahara and the Swiss Alps. He made pictures of both mountains he loved and people as they worked and celebrated. People and nature around helped him to uncover the beauty of country, materials, shapes and colours of marble, wood, snow or water. Part of the iconic artwork by Karol Skřipský is archived in the Slovak National Museum in Martin. The latest presentation of the work of K. Skřipský took place as part of the 15th International film festival Etnofilm Čadca 2008.