Carl Oswald Bulla or Karl Karlovich Bulla (; 26 February 1855
in Encyclopedia Peoples.ru or 1853
article on Artproject.ru – 28 November 1929) was a German-Russian photographer, often referred to as the "father of Russian photo-reporting".''Karl Bulla: The Father of Russian Photo-reporting''
"Глаза и уши Петербурга", 2004

Biography

Carl Oswald Bulla was born in Leobschütz in

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

(now

Głubczyce Głubczyce ( or sparsely ''Glubčice'', or ''Gubczycy'', ) is a town in Opole Voivodeship in south-western Poland, near the border with the Czech Republic. It is the administrative seat of Głubczyce County and Gmina Głubczyce. Geography Głu ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

). His exact birth year is unclear with some references citing 1853 then others citing 1855. In 1865 the adventurous boy ran away from his family to

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. The reasons prompting the boy to choose Russia out of all possible destinations are unknown. After arriving in St. Petersburg, Bulla started to work as a delivery-boy in the firm ''Dupant'' that made and sold photography supplies. Soon his responsibilities included handmaking (coating and sensitizing) of the photographic glass negative plates. At the age of twenty Bulla opened a small factory producing "momentary dry

bromine Bromine is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Br and atomic number 35. It is a volatile red-brown liquid at room temperature that evaporates readily to form a similarly coloured vapour. Its properties are intermediate between th ...

gelatin Gelatin or gelatine () is a translucent, colorless, flavorless food ingredient, commonly derived from collagen taken from animal body parts. It is brittle when dry and rubbery when moist. It may also be referred to as hydrolyzed collagen, coll ...

plates". Buying the readymade photographic materials was much more convenient than handmaking their own and soon Bulla's plates became popular, selling not only in St.Petersburg but across the whole Russian Empire. In February 1876 Bulla requested his naturalization and in July 1876 became a subject of the Russian Empire. In 1875 Bulla opened his first photographic studio at 61

Sadovaya Street Sadovaya Street or Garden Street is a major thoroughfare in Saint Petersburg, Russia, passing through the Central Saint Petersburg, historic city center. From east to west, it begins near the Field of Mars (Saint Petersburg), Field of Mars, cr ...

and soon became a fashionable photographer. For ten years he worked there doing pavilion portrait photography. Then in 1886, he received the permit from the St.Petersburg Police allowing him to take pictures everywhere. While he did not abandon studio photography (in fact he opened two more studios: on the

Catherine Canal The Griboyedov Canal or Kanal Griboyedova () is a canal in Saint Petersburg, constructed in 1739 along the existing ''Krivusha'' river. In 1764–90, the canal was deepened and the banks were reinforced and covered with granite. The Griboyedov ...

and on

Nevsky Prospekt Nevsky Prospect ( rus, Не́вский проспе́кт, r=Nevsky Prospekt, p=ˈnʲɛfskʲɪj prɐˈspʲɛkt) is a main street ( high street) located in the federal city of St. Petersburg in Russia. Its name comes from the Alexander Nevs ...

) but became more interested in photography of city life. At the end of the 19th century, newspaper printing technology allowed the publishing of photographs. In 1894 Russian Department of Post and Telegraphs also allowed the use of

postcard A postcard or post card is a piece of thick paper or thin cardboard, typically rectangular, intended for writing and mailing without an envelope. Non-rectangular shapes may also be used but are rare. In some places, one can send a postcard f ...

s. Both events significantly increased the demand for photographs. In 1895 Bulla stopped his production of photographic supplies and put all his energy into photography. In his advertisement, he wrote "The oldest photographer-illustrator Karl Bulla photographs for the illustrated magazines anything and anywhere without limits from the landscape or the building, indoor or outdoor day or night at the artificial light". Indeed, he photographed everything and anything: Life of Tsar family and assemblies of anti-government

intelligentsia The intelligentsia is a status class composed of the university-educated people of a society who engage in the complex mental labours by which they critique, shape, and lead in the politics, policies, and culture of their society; as such, the i ...

, stars of scene and manual workers, palaces and hostels for homeless, even such exotics as gay parties. Bulla was on the editorial board of many magazines including popular Niva. In 1910s the annual revenue of the firm "Bulla and Sons" reached 250 thousand

rouble The ruble or rouble (; rus, рубль, p=rublʲ) is a currency unit. Currently, currencies named ''ruble'' in circulation include the Russian ruble (RUB, ₽) in Russia and the Belarusian ruble (BYN, Rbl) in Belarus. These currencies are s ...

s. In 1916 Bulla passed the management of the firm "Bulla and sons" to his sons Alexander and Viktor and moved to Ösel Island (currently

Saaremaa Saaremaa (; ) is the largest and most populous island in Estonia. Measuring , its population is 31,435 (as of January 2020). The main island of the West Estonian archipelago (Moonsund archipelago), it is located in the Baltic Sea, south of Hi ...

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

). He lived a quiet life there, photographing the local ethnographic material and teaching Estonian boys the basics of photography until his death in 1929.

The sons

After the retirement of Karl Bulla, his firm was managed by his sons, Alexander and Viktor. Viktor Bulla was a notable photo-reporter in his own right. He was the author of a series on the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the Korean Empire. The major land battles of the war were fought on the ...

and

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. At that time, before the invention of the

telephoto lens A telephoto lens, also known as telelens, is a specific type of a long-focus lens used in photography and cinematography, in which the physical length of the lens is shorter than the focal length. This is achieved by incorporating a special lens ...

, photography was a very difficult and dangerous mission. Later Viktor Bulla made photographs of the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

and the

Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...

. He was appointed the Chief Photographer of the Leningrad Soviet. He took a lot of photographs of

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

and other

bolsheviks The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

. In 1938 during the

Great Purge The Great Purge, or the Great Terror (), also known as the Year of '37 () and the Yezhovshchina ( , ), was a political purge in the Soviet Union that took place from 1936 to 1938. After the Assassination of Sergei Kirov, assassination of ...

he was arrested, accused of being a German spy and shot. The life of Alexander Bulla also ended tragically. He was arrested in the early 1930s and sent to

White Sea – Baltic Canal White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wavelen ...

labor camp A labor camp (or labour camp, see British and American spelling differences, spelling differences) or work camp is a detention facility where inmates are unfree labour, forced to engage in penal labor as a form of punishment. Labor camps have ...

s. He returned after five years and soon died.

Selected works

File:Piter ice tram.jpg, Trams on the frozen

Neva River The Neva ( , ; , ) is a river in northwestern Russia flowing from Lake Ladoga through the western part of Leningrad Oblast (historical region of Ingria) to the Neva Bay of the Gulf of Finland. Despite its modest length of , it is the fourth-l ...

File:Bulla street.jpg, Street scene File:Bula Stonemasons.jpg, Stonemasons, 1900s File:Rasputin-Big-photos-2.jpg,

Grigory Rasputin Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin ( – ) was a Russian mystic and faith healer. He is best known for having befriended the imperial family of Nicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia, through whom he gained considerable influence in the final year ...

, Major-General Putyatin and Colonel Lotman, 1904 File:Egyptian bridge catastrophy.jpg, Collapse of the

Egyptian Bridge Egyptian Bridge (Египетский мост) in St. Petersburg, Russia, carries Lermontovsky Avenue (Лермонтовский проспект) over the Fontanka River. The one-span suspension bridge that it replaced was of historical inter ...

File:Bulla Andreyev.jpg,

Leonid Andreyev Leonid Nikolaievich Andreyev (, – 12 September 1919) was a Russian playwright, novelist and short-story writer, who is considered to be a father of Expressionism in Russian literature. He is regarded as one of the most talented and prolific ...

and his wife, Anna File:Former Deputies of Russian State Duma arrive in Vyborg.jpg, Deputies of the disbanded

State Duma The State Duma is the lower house of the Federal Assembly (Russia), Federal Assembly of Russia, with the upper house being the Federation Council (Russia), Federation Council. It was established by the Constitution of Russia, Constitution of t ...

arrive to

Vyborg Vyborg (; , ; , ; , ) is a town and the administrative center of Vyborgsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Karelian Isthmus near the head of Vyborg Bay, northwest of St. Petersburg, east of the Finnish capital H ...

to sign an anti-government

Vyborg Manifesto The "Vyborg Manifesto" (, , ; also called the "Vyborg Appeal") was a proclamation signed by several Russian politicians, primarily Kadets and Trudoviks) of the dissolved First Duma on . In the wake of the 1905 Revolution, Russia's first modern p ...

, 1906 File:Bulla bekhterev v.jpg,

Vladimir Bekhterev Vladimir Mikhailovich Bekhterev ( rus, Влади́мир Миха́йлович Бе́хтерев, p=ˈbʲextʲɪrʲɪf; 20 January 1857 – 24 December 1927) was a Russian neurologist and the father of objective psychology. He is best known fo ...

File:Bulla_medical_inspection.jpeg, 1900s File:Bulla_group_with_poles.jpeg, 1900s File:Bulla Kitchen.jpg, Homeless Shelter, 1910 File:Bulla Tolstoy.jpg,

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using Reforms of Russian orthography#The post-revolution re ...

File:Bulla RepinreadsTolstoydeath.jpg,

Ilya Yefimovich Repin Ilya Yefimovich Repin ( – 29 September 1930) was a Russian painter, born in what is today Ukraine. He became one of the most renowned artists in Russia in the 19th century. His major works include '' Barge Haulers on the Volga'' (1873), '' Re ...

reads the announcement of

death. Present

Korney Chukovsky Korney Ivanovich Chukovsky ( rus, Корне́й Ива́нович Чуко́вский, p=kɐrˈnʲej ɪˈvanəvʲɪtɕ tɕʊˈkofskʲɪj, a=Kornyey Ivanovich Chukovskiy.ru.vorb.oga; 31 March NS 1882 – 28 October 1969) was one of the most p ...

and Nordman-Severova (Repin's wife). File:Bulla Hercules.jpg, Opening of the ''Hercules'' club, 1912 File:Nevsky Prospect 25 1913.jpg, Kazan Cathedral House.

Nevsky Prospect Nevsky Prospect ( rus, Не́вский проспе́кт, r=Nevsky Prospekt, p=ˈnʲɛfskʲɪj prɐˈspʲɛkt) is a main street ( high street) located in the federal city of St. Petersburg in Russia. Its name comes from the Alexander Nevs ...

, 25. Celebrating the

300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty The Romanov Tercentenary () was a country-wide celebration, marked in the Russian Empire from February 1913, in celebration of the ruling House of Romanov. After a grand display of wealth and power in St. Petersburg, and a week of receptions at ...

. 1913 File:Bulla Chaliapin.jpg,

Feodor Chaliapin Feodor Ivanovich Chaliapin ( rus, Фёдор Ива́нович Шаля́пин, Fyodor Ivanovich Shalyapin, ˈfʲɵdər ɨˈvanəvʲɪtɕ ʂɐˈlʲapʲɪn}; 12 April 1938) was a Russian opera singer. Possessing a deep and expressive bass voic ...

and his friends ice skating, 1914 File:Bulla Apraksin Fire.jpg,

Apraksin Dvor Apraksin Yard (also Apraxin Dvor; ) is a market and retail block in Saint Petersburg, Russia, covering . It is currently under a massive long-term renovation project. The buildings of Apraksin Dvor stand between Sadovaya Street and the Fontanka ...

on fire, July, 1914 File:Bulla Vityaz.jpg,

Igor Sikorsky Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky, (25 May 1889 – 26 October 1972) was a Russian-American aviation pioneer in both helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. His first success came with the Sikorsky S-2, the second aircraft of his design and construc ...

, Genner and Kaulbars aboard airplane '' Russian Vityaz'', 1915 File:Bulla TsarFamilyinStavka.jpg,

Nicholas II Nicholas II (Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov; 186817 July 1918) or Nikolai II was the last reigning Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 1 November 1894 until his abdication on 15 March 1917. He married ...

Tsarevich Alexei Grand Duke Alexei Petrovich of Russia (28 February 1690 – 26 June 1718) was a Russian Tsarevich. He was born in Moscow, the son of Tsar Peter I and his first wife, Eudoxia Lopukhina. Alexei did not get along with his father and repeatedly ...

and Alexandra Fyodorvna arrive to

Stavka The ''Stavka'' ( Russian and Ukrainian: Ставка, ) is a name of the high command of the armed forces used formerly in the Russian Empire and Soviet Union and currently in Ukraine. In Imperial Russia ''Stavka'' referred to the administrat ...

, May 1916

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bulla, Karl 1850s births 1929 deaths People from Głubczyce People from the Province of Silesia German emigrants to the Russian Empire 19th-century photographers from the Russian Empire

Biography

The sons

Archive

Selected works

References

Further reading

External links