Joseph G. Skittrell

(b. Lambeth, London, **/**/1882 – d. Battersea, London, **/**/1949). British cinematographer and film technician who, according to the 1911 Census, was a "cinematograph camera operator". In 1910 the Publicity and Travel Department of the South African Railways & Harbours sponsored the production of From the Cape to the Zambezi, a so-called “scenic” that was shot by a number of cameramen, including Joseph George Skittrell and Tommy Crellin. There is a record of Skittrell coming out to South Africa in December 1910, but it is not known if he came out specifically for this, nor whether he shot any other films here. He subsequently became the owner/manager of the Olympic Kinematograph Laboratory in London and featured prominently in various professional bodies, including the Society of Motion Picture Engineers and the Incorporated Association of Kinematograph Manufacturers. Interesting, in 1904 he had married Beatrice Albrecht, the older sister of South African film pioneer Joseph Albrecht. (FO)

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