The driving force behind the Skvirsky Studio, Leoind Skvirsky was born in 1902 in Odessa (by other accounts, Vilna) and grew up in Harbin, where his parents moved when he was two years old. He studied arts at the Moscow Stroganov Art Academy and Petrograd Art School. In 1927, he was back in Harbin, working as a photographer for the China East Railway and earning 11 dollars a month. After nine months of this work, he was able to open his own photo studio, and his income grew exponentially. In 1931, Skvisrky assumed Lithuanian citizenship.

Having moved to Shanghai in 1932, Skvirsky joined Sanzetti’s Photo Studio, which he bought out in 1935. His involvement changed the studio’s stylistic direction, moving from Sanzetti’s tranquil and delicately colorized portraits to a bolder, more dramatic and at times experimental style. Skvirsky also contributed designs to the productions of the Russian opera and ballet at the Lyceum Theatre. One of the founders and activists of the artistic society HLAM, Skvirsky had a private exhibition of his photographic art there, in January 1934, and his portraiture received praise for its psychological depth.

Skvrisky quickly became the most sought-after photographer in Shanghai and beyond. Exceptionally well connected, he received commissions from Chinese oligarchs, ruling elite and diplomats, such as the Kung and Soong clans, Wellington Koo’s family and C. T. Wong, the Chinese Ambassador to the USA. Skvirsky enjoyed friendship of Shanghai’s foreign elite, such as Victor Sassoon, who was a passionate photographer himself. In 1937, by the invitation of China’s leader Chiang Kai-shek, Skvirsky took exclusive photographs of Chiang’s family at their country residence near Nanking.

In June 1935, Leonid Skvirsky married the American actress Lulah Thompson (also known as Halsey Armstrong), his favorite model and muse, who readily posed for risqué photographs. In 1936, having left his Shanghai studio in the hands of the associates, Skvirsky headed to India and spent more than a year in Bombay (Mumbai). During that time, he reorganized the famous Hamilton Studios, increasing its revenue six times. He also won a countrywide photo contest and photographed Indian celebrities and members of the royal court.

In 1938, in the wake of the Japanese attacks on Shanghai, Skivrsky and wife relocated to Lulah Thompson’s hometown Atlanta, USA. The photographer brought some 150 of his best shots with him, which won him acclaim and prizes in artistic competitions. Leonid Skvirsky died in 1969.