Helmut Gritscher was born 7 June 1933 inWattens, in theAustrian Tyrol. A ski instructor, he traveled and worked in the mountains of Europe, Lebanon, and the United States[2] before moving to Australia in 1961 to join the Perisher Ski School in theMt. Kosciuszko ski fields[3][4] and producing his first book,Skiing, on ski technique, with fellow instructorFritz Halbwidl.[5]
Gritscher stayed in Australia because he "wanted to photograph something which has only been partly explored visually" to produce his second book,The High Country, on theAustralian Alps photographed in winter and summer, for which he askedCraig McGregor to write the text.[6] Of the process of taking the photographs he remembered, "with every day I spent in those mountains I discovered more beautiful things, and my life became richer,"[7] sentiments on which he elaborated in an interview:
"Some of the world's most wonderful and bizarre trees are here, unmatched in their variety of colour, texture, and shape. The most fascinating discovery for me was the huge stretches of untouched land I saw when I walked through and camped on the lonely high plains . . . There was not one sign that a human being had walked there before; only the weird and unreal shapes of dead trees and rocks and an unspeakable quietness and melancholy over the whole land."[8]
To Sydney with Love, his third book, took as its subject Sydney's beaches andharbour, and there he photographed the older suburbs,rugby, theSydney Opera House, and various cultural events.[9]
Gristcher's photographs were published frequently for articles and covers inWalkabout[10] as well asPacific Islands Monthly, and he was profiled in Craig McGregor's 1969 survey of Australian artsIn The Making.[11]
Returning to Europe in 1970, Gritscher continued to produce illustrations there for ski stories.[12][13][14] and he was represented by Aspect picture library, London, which distributed his photographs to publishers including Life books,Reader's Digest,Sports Illustrated[15][16][17][18] (including covers of issues from 2 and 16 February 1976),[19] andNational Geographic into the 1990s.[20][21] The publisher ofSports Illustrated amusingly recounts in a 1976 issue how, during the shooting of a group photo, Helmut's car came to be forcibly removed by a platoon of Austrian soldiers in front of theBergisel ski-jumping stadium.[22]
Gritscher died, aged 82, on 24 November 2015 in his home town of Wattens, Austria where his ashes are interred, and was survived by his wife Gerda, sons Thomas and Andreas, and siblings Paula and Herbert.[23]
Peter Fenton, in reviewingThe High Country forThe Age writes that "Gritscher's camera work which dominates 'The High Country' and,ipso facto, gives the book a rather stronger coffee-table flavour, is generally as first-class as we expect of him. Occasionally it is beyond adjectives, notably his color, in which his flair for catching the play of light on snowy mountaintops, sheep's backs, birds' feathers, alpine flowers, boulders chalets, trees and other objects is impressively expressed."[24]
Craig McGregor regarded Gritscher as amongst a few who had "made the crucial breakthrough in Australian photography",[25] and inIn The Making records that another photographer commented "Helmut has a love affair with every subject he takes." He worked alongside, and as the equal of, significant Australian practitioners; photographs by Gritscher were purchased, with those ofDavid Beal,David Moore, Lance Nelson andRichard Woldendorp in 1969 for theNational Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne through the KODAK (Australasia) Pty Ltd Fund.[26]
Gritscher, H., & New South Wales. (1970). New South Wales, Australia:Professional ski race, Mount Kosciusko. Sydney, N.S.W.: New South Wales Dept. of Tourism.
Elyne Mitchell, with photographs by Helmut Gritscher, 'The Dream That Is Mount Townsend,' InWalkabout. Vol. 32 No. 6 (1 June 1966), p. 16-19, Australian Geographical Society.
Robin Boyd (1963-12-01), "AUSTRALIA'S SPLIT-LEVEL CULTURE (1 December 1963)",Walkabout,29 (12), Australian National Travel Association,ISSN0043-0064
^McGregor, Craig (2013),Left hand drive : a social and political memoir, Affirm Press ; North Sydney : Random House Australia [Distributor],ISBN978-1-922213-08-2
^Paul Carpenter, The Snowy: where time turned back,'The Sydney Morning Herald, Sun, May 12, 196 p.98
^Gritscher, Helmut; McGregor, Craig (1968).To Sydney with love. Melbourne: Nelson (Australia).
^Australian Geographical Society (1966-06-01), "The Dream That Is Mount Townsend (1 June 1966)",Walkabout,32 (6), Australian National Travel Association,ISSN0043-0064
^McGregor, Craig; McGregor, Craig, 1933- (1969),In the making, Thomas Nelson (Australia),ISBN978-0-17-001819-7{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^George Bush, photos by Helmut Gritscher, "Innsbruck, Skiing's Capital City",Skiing, Dec 1972, Vol. 25, No. 4, ISSN 0037-6264
^Bill Tanler, photos by Helmut Gritscher, "Preview: The FIS World Alpine Championships,"Skiing, Feb 1978, Vol. 30, No. 6, ISSN 0037-6264
^John Skow, photos by Helmut Gritscher, "A Schladming Sampler,"Skiing, Jan 1979, Vol. 31, No. 5, ISSN 0037-6264
^"The Photographers".Sports Illustrated.99 (18). 10 November 2003.ISSN0038-822X – via EBSCO.
^Gritscher, Helmut (23 January 1978). "For The Record : A roundup of the week Jan. 9-15".Sports Illustrated.48 (4): 33, 34, 35, 36.ISSN0038-822X – via EBSCO.
^"For The Record : A roundup of the week".Sports Illustrated.48 (8): 24. 13 February 1978.ISSN0038-822X – via EBSCO.
^"Football".Sports Illustrated.46 (8). 17 February 1977.ISSN0038-822X – via EBSCO.
^"SI Cover Credits : Here is the name of every photographer and artist whose work appeared on the 1,846 covers in this issue".Sports Illustrated.72 (13). 28 March 1990.ISSN0038-822X – via EBSCO.
^photographer and agency credit in:The Sydney Morning Herald, Saturday 04 Jan 1986, p.92
^photographer and agency credit in: Blashfield, J. F. (1999). Italy. United States: Children's Press.
^Meyers, John A. (23 February 1976). "Letter From The Publisher".Sports Illustrated.44 (8).ISSN0038-822X.
