Love at First Sight

Karłowicz first visited Zakopane in 1889 with his family. He was thirteen years old. The Tatra Mountains captivated him instantly, and over time they became one of the most important places in his life. In the years that followed, he returned to the mountains with increasing frequency, eventually becoming one of the pioneers of Tatra mountaineering.

In 1907, after an open conflict with the management of the Warsaw Philharmonic and unable to accept the conditions prevailing in the capital’s musical circles at the time, he decided to settle permanently in the place where he had long felt most at home – Zakopane, among his beloved Tatra Mountains. In his writings, he described them in these words: “None of these mountains were to me what the Tatras were.” He wrote of mists concealing the peaks and of moments when lakes, snowfields and rocky summits suddenly revealed themselves to the traveller. For him, the mountains were not simply a beautiful landscape. They were a space to be explored, traversed and experienced.


Karłowicz on the slopes of Gubałówka, with Zakopane in the background. (Source: National Digital Archives)

Over time, Karłowicz became an active member of Poland’s emerging mountaineering community. He undertook solo expeditions and challenging ascents, many of them as first man ever; marked mountain trails; regularly wrote for mountaineering magazines including “Taternik”; practised skiing; and became involved in the development of tourism and mountain safety. Together with Mariusz Zaruski, he belonged to the circle from which the idea of an organised mountain rescue service emerged. After Karłowicz’s death, this initiative eventually led to the establishment of the Tatra Volunteer Search and Rescue Service (TOPR).

“I know what I can lose, and I know what I can gain…”

Karłowicz’s tragic death contributed to the creation of a romantic myth: that of an artist escaping to the mountains from a world that misunderstood and failed to appreciate him, seeking solace and pure beauty among the peaks. Today, researchers exploring his life and work offer a much more nuanced picture of his relationship with the mountains. From this perspective, Karłowicz emerges as one of the figures who helped shape a modern approach to Tatra mountaineering – one that did not set aesthetic experience against physical effort, risk or sport. On the contrary, he believed that hardship was an essential part of experiencing the mountains in their fullness.


Karłowicz climbing in the High Tatras. (Source: National Digital Archives)

Karłowicz himself described his ideal mountain traveller as someone who ventured into the mountains in search of “experiences primarily of an aesthetic nature”, while possessing enough willpower, courage and experience to make difficulties “merely an added dimension to the expedition”. Indeed, for Karłowicz, the purpose of his solitary journeys in the Tatras was not simply to admire the landscape or achieve sporting feats. It was to experience the mountains fully and profoundly – with both body and spirit.

A Mountaineer with a Camera

Photography entered Karłowicz’s life at a very early age. He took his first photographs as an eleven-year-old boy, and in later years photography became an integral part of his mountain expeditions. His camera was one of his most faithful companions in the Tatras. It is worth remembering, however, that cameras in Karłowicz’s day were very different from those we use today. They were heavy and cumbersome pieces of equipment that could make mountain travel considerably more demanding. Karłowicz’s last camera, together with its plate holders and case, weighed almost 4 kilograms!


Karłowicz’s last camera. (Source: Virtual Museums of Małopolska)

Karłowicz photographed the Tatra landscape above all: valleys, mountain lakes, ridges, peaks and rock faces. He developed his photographs himself, selected them and arranged them into albums. Three of his original albums, as well as his glass negatives, have survived to this day.

Perfectionism characterised Karłowicz’s approach to music, mountaineering and photography alike. His photographs are distinguished by their outstanding technical quality, carefully considered composition and subtle, deliberate use of shades of grey. Yet he did not regard photography as an art equal to music. It was nevertheless an extremely important part of his life – above all, a way of documenting and preserving his experiences in the mountains. He achieved considerable success in this field. As a pioneer of Tatra photography, he could hardly keep up with the demand for prints of his photographs. In 1907, he wrote jokingly to Helena Egerowa: “I do not know whether I shall ever achieve popularity as a composer – probably not. But as a mountaineer, I have already gained some recognition: people are clamouring for prints of my photographs, and the Tatra Society has requested a whole series of photographs for this year’s publication. In view of this unexpected success, it is quite probable that I may change professions and, having shut my Muse away in a cupboard, turn to being a professional tourist-photographer.”


Zmarzły Staw beneath Polski Grzebień, an original photograph by Mieczysław Karłowicz (Source: collection of the Central Mountain Tourism Centre of the Polish Tourist and Sightseeing Society (PTTK) in Kraków, in cooperation with Agencja Zegart.)


View from the Rówienki Valley towards the Czech Lakes, an original photograph by Mieczysław Karłowicz (Source: collection of the Central Mountain Tourism Centre of the Polish Tourist and Sightseeing Society (PTTK) in Kraków, in cooperation with Agencja Zegart.)

Between Image and Sound

Karłowicz’s love for the Tatras was the love of his life. It was therefore bound to find its way into his music. For many listeners, a first encounter with his music leaves a powerful sense of space – something deeply embedded in his scores. Yet the mountains do not appear in his works as literal landscapes. Karłowicz did not attempt to paint the mountains in sound. What mattered more to him was the experience of nature: its power, mystery and beauty, and the sense of human smallness in the face of the vastness of the world and the forces of nature. In this sense, the Tatras may have influenced his music not as a collection of specific images, but as a source of profound, existential and even mystical experiences that found their own musical language.

Photography, Tatra literature and music were therefore three languages of a single experience. Photography preserved the image. His writings gave shape to the journey and the experience itself. Music reached further still – transforming what could neither be fully described in words nor captured in an image.

The Mountains That Took Him Forever

On February the 7th, 1909, the day before his death, Karłowicz spoke with Elżbieta Trenklerówna about his new camera. It was large and heavy. Trenklerówna remarked that, from an artistic point of view, she preferred photographs that were less sharply defined, with more “air” and space. Karłowicz replied: “Well, when I have taken the photographs, I will bring them to you and you will see the difference.”

He never had the chance to show them to her. The following day, he set out into the Tatras. He was killed by an avalanche on the slopes of Mały Kościelec. His camera was found beside his body. Two photographs from the final days of his life have survived.


Right: the unveiling of the Karłowicz monument beneath Mały Kościelec in 1909 (Source: nietylkozakopane.org); left: the monument today (Source: wikipedia.org)

Karłowicz – A Complete Portrait

As part of Karłowicz FEST, we want to present the composer not only as a musician, but also as a mountaineer and photographer. Without these dimensions, his portrait as a human being would remain incomplete. That is why the programme includes an exhibition of his original Tatra photographs, a screening of a documentary film about his passions, and a discussion bringing together musicians and distinguished mountaineers and Tatra experts.

Admission to all these events is free of charge (places are limited – please collect your entry passes from the Philharmonic box office).

Sources:
Roszkowska, Ewa, “Wiem co mam do stracenia, i wiem co mam do zyskania” o taternictwie Mieczysława Karłowicza, Fabrica Litterarum Polono-Italica, no. 1(9), 2025, pp. 1-17.

Wojnarowski, Krzysztof, “Mieczysław Karłowicz – geniusz czy profan fotografii?”, Kwartalnik Fotografia.

Karłowicz, Mieczysław, Mieczysław Karłowicz w Tatrach. Pisma taternickie i zdjęcia fotograficzne, edited by Jerzy Młodziejowski, Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne, Kraków, 1968.

Widok piękny bez zastrzeżeń. Fotografia tatrzańska Mieczysława Karłowicza, Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne, Kraków, 2016.