Štefan's face may not be familiar to many, but if we showed you one of the photos he took, we are sure that you would recognize the author, his handwriting is specific. Behind the @beautifulbratislava profile on Instagram is a lawyer and former successful Slovak fencing representative Štefan Cipár, who in his free time devotes himself to photography and searching for interesting facts about his hometown - Bratislava. Take a look with us into the secrets of the buildings that you may walk past every day, but do not know what beauty they hide.
As a lawyer, Štefan has flexible working hours, so he can find time to take photos even during the working day. And perhaps it is thanks to his grandmother that he loves his hometown so much. "Since childhood, I have heard stories and rumors related to well-known and unknown places in Bratislava. He also has a lot of background information that he sometimes finds and sends to me. I guess I was also influenced by this."
The photos on the @beatifulbratislava profile are different from the typical shots of Bratislava that tourists know. They are taken from unconventional angles, focusing on details that others may not notice. That's also what makes them unique. "Many people have shown us that 'touristy' Bratislava, and I didn't feel the need to comment on it with my photos. I focus more on lesser-known places that I think are just as beautiful, maybe even more beautiful. And I try to make them more known to people this way."
In the near future, he will bring the story of Hotel Bôrik on his Instagram, where most of us probably won't get to either. "It's good architecture, there's a lot of art there, so there will be really nice photos from there. I had two appointments there, I took photos for half a day, and then I was accompanied by a person who has been working there since 1985. He really remembers a lot, he pointed out everything to me. In addition, I have other photo shoots arranged, but I won't say more. I don't want to reveal more until it's taken," smiles Štefan. And we are already looking forward to new photo stories of places that are both close and far away from us.
Štefan is the grandson of academic painter Miroslav Cipár, his grandmother was a tourist guide in Bratislava. An interesting mix of genes also manifested itself in his life. "I have always been inclined towards art. I wanted to go to a secondary art school, but it was my grandfather who told me to go to a gymnasium. And if I want, I can go and study art later, but that didn't happen. But I'm happy with how it is."
Typical "photomanuscript"
He had his first camera in his hands as a child. "Sometime after 2000, I got a digital SLR camera. Then mobile phones came along, and when my Instagram account became more popular, I felt like it deserved better quality, so I bought a "normal" camera again. I currently have three of them - two digital and one for film. But I also take photos with my mobile phone. Technology is advancing at the maximum, sometimes my photos from my mobile phone turn out better than from a camera. Artificial intelligence in mobile phones is often faster and better than me with manual camera settings," says Štefan.
In addition to photographing buildings, Štefan also focuses on the interiors of abandoned and often inaccessible buildings. Thanks to his photos, his followers have visited the Grӧssling Spa, the RTVS complex in Mlynská dolina (former premises of STV and before that ČST), Iuventa, the Hviezda military hostel, the so-called Kukurica or Istropolis. "When something interests me, I come back, try to get in and learn more. Now it's easy given the number of followers, I can get almost everywhere. Bratislava is a small city, and there is always some kind of connection. At first, I wrote, called through official channels, but basically I didn't encounter any rejection. Some of the equipment took a little longer, but I was persistent," explains Štefan, who is also very grateful for tips on locations or views from his followers.
Stories of old buildings
This tile was the starting point for the collaboration between Štefan Cipár and historian Júlia Itin, which will soon culminate in the first book. “When Júlia identified the floor I had photographed in the pharmacy and wrote to me, it was our first virtual meeting. Later, we went together to photograph the Avion apartment complex, and she approached me to photograph her book, which she planned to write – about the interiors and stories of Bratislava houses, families and architects... In the meantime, we have postponed work on this book for later, but in the spring of 2023, our joint book on tiles and paving should be published by Čierne diery. We have included about 120 addresses and approximately 140-150 patterns,” says Štefan Cipár.
Thanks to frequent travel, he is happy to be home.
I knew Bratislava was beautiful, but after years behind the lens, I feel like it's even more beautiful.
He also likes similar neighborhoods in Bratislava. He spends his time in the wider center, in Palisády, he likes Horský park, Devín and the Presidential Garden. If tourists would like to experience Bratislava like locals, he recommends that they stay here for more than one day. "Let them come to Palisády, buy a book at the Artforum bookstore, have a coffee at Sväg to go, walk over the hill and have lunch at Funus. These are the non-touristy routes, but they are typical, and you can see the current urban folklore on them. The way the city looks, and how the people of Bratislava live in it."
Full photo disks
Thanks to his passion for photography, Štefan gets to many places, meets interesting people, hears many stories, but he also has a huge stock of photos. "I have several memory media, external drives and memory cards. I try to clean them up so that I can keep an overview, but fortunately, nowadays it is easy to search using dates, streets, various keywords... And sometimes, when I'm looking for something, I look at the photos, stay with them longer and remember.
