Irena Blühová
Hungary (1904—1991)Born in the Kingdom of Hungary, in what is now Slovakia, Blühová initially took up photography as a hobby, soon recognising its potential to document the social conditions of her time. She studied at the Bauhaus in Dessau from 1931 to 1932 before returning to Bratislava, where she ran the Blüh Bookshop and became increasingly involved in political activities. In 1938–39 she studied film under Karol Plicka at the School of Arts and Crafts in Bratislava. After the Second World War she resumed her photographic work while pursuing educational activities, joining the State Pedagogical Institute in 1951. Her photographic work was subsequently restricted during the political normalisation that followed the Prague Spring, and in 1989 she received the Josef Sudek Medal in recognition of her contribution to photography.
