Walery Eljasz Radzikowski – fotograf Tatr i Podhala
Walery Eljasz Radzikowski – photographer of the Tatras mountains and the Podhale region

Summary/Abstract: The article is concerned with the life and amateur photographic dimension (from 1890) of the career of the painter Walery Eljasz Radzikowski (1840-1905), a great lover and propagator of mountains, from 1874 a distinguished member of the Tatra Society, and the author of the Illustrated Guide to the Tatras and Pieniny Mountains and Szczawnica (6 editions, first published in 1900). Many notes and comments concerning photographic equipment and materials used by the photographer, as well as problems he encountered when developing negatives can be found in his four preserved notebooks (known as the Tatras diaries) from the period between 1871 and 1903 (National Museum in Cracow). Part of the photographic legacy of Walery Eljasz Radzikowski has been lost, part has been dispersed. The biggest collection (348 glass plates) is in the hands of the Seweryn Udziela Ethnographic Museum in Cracow. These photographs represent mainly the mountain landscape, but the collection also includes (in smaller numbers) views of Zakopane, the architecture of the Tatras and Podhale regions, tourism, and portraits of mountain guides, highlanders and their everyday economic activities (ills. 3-8). Postcards were printed from many of these photographs. Radzikowskis photographs have a documentary character, they are distinguished by their choice of motifs and good technical quality. The artist captured passing moments with his camera, whilst simultaneously attempting to include as many details as possible. He was more a modest, albeit careful observer than a creator of images.

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