Places / Carl Oswald Bulla’s photo studio
Collapse in the Duma
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Carl Oswald Bulla’s photo studio / Places
Bulla captured congresses, balls, banquets, parades
of troops as well as interiors of estates of noble masters.
However, apart from the above, he did not forget to
capture the daily life of children’s shelters, the work
of doctors and the life of factory workers, wrestling
competitions and meetings of the State Council,
the typesviews of St. Petersburg, the first cars and
revolutionary demonstrations. At the end of the 19th
century Bulla’s photographs became extremely popular
with contemporaries. The works by the great photographer
depict: Leo Tolstoy in Yasnaya Polyana, Fedor Chaliapin
in Kuokkala, Ilya Repin in Penaty, Maksim Gorky, Kornei
Chukovsky, Kerensky, Rasputin and Emperor Nicholas II.
For all these famous people it was an honor to be captured
by Bulla.
For his many years in photography (and this is more
than 40 years!) Bulla got many awards. For example, for a
series of photographs of orphanages in 1910 he was awarded
the title of hereditary honorary citizen of St. Petersburg
(and this title also was extended to direct heirs).
Carl Oswald collaborated with many illustrated magazines,
especially with the publication of «Niva». He was engaged
in the production of his photographs in the originals and
in the format of open letters. Many publishers, such as:
«Richard», «Community of Saint Eugenia», «Granberg»
created postcards according to his photographs. Besides,
his photographs were used in the design of books and
guidebooks.
Carl Bulla paid a lot of attention to extraordinary events:
a series of his photographs about the city flood in 1903 and
about local fires are known. The photographer also saw the
collapse of the Egyptian bridge in 1904, the fall of the ceiling
in the State Duma building on May 2, 1907, an aviation week
in St. Petersburg in 1910, as well as many other bright and
important events in the life of the city.
After he moved to the photo studio and the new
apartment, Carl Bulla, as we have already mentioned, was
not alone. Two adult sons — Aleksandr and Viktor were his
help and support. The figure of his father was so bright that
he completely eclipsed participation in his own filming
and creating the works of his sons. Viktor and Aleksandr
Bulla continued his father’s business after 1917, when Carl
Oswald left for Estonia. After the revolution, the photo
salon continued to work as a state institution.
However, the heavy social upheavals did not bypass
the famous dynasty: in 1928 Aleksandr Bulla was
arrested and sent into exile, and in 1938 as a German
spy on the denunciation of his «colleague» at the photo
studio, Viktor Bull was sentenced to be shot. Employees
of the NKVD (People’s Commissariat for Internal
Affairs) confiscated from the Bulla family the result
of their creative work — negatives kept for decades
of painstaking work. Some of the negatives were
barbarously destroyed during the search, the remaining
ones were seized and currently they are the basis of
the collection of the State Fund for Film- and Photo
Documents (over 130,000 items!).
W. E. Elbek — president of the fund
The famous Bulla’s surname was for decades forgotten,
however, the photo studio on Nevsky, 54 continued to
exist. The photo studio adored by the locals did not stop
working even in the years of the Great Patriotic War and the
Blockade of Leningrad. «Photo No. 1» in the post-war years
became the center of portrait and family photography of our
city. Annually thousands of Leningrad residents visited the
photo salon on Nevsky, 54 to take a photo on a passport or a
memorial photograph for a family album.
In 2002, at the initiative and using the money of the
new owner of the premises, Valentin Yevgenyevich Elbek,
for the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg, a large-scale
reconstruction was carried out in the photo salon, that
helped the city preserve the memorial room of the photo
gallery of Carl Bulla. There was a full-scale restoration of
the filming pavilions where Carl Bulla and his sons worked.
At the cost of painstaking work and great efforts, it was
possible to restore the famous light dome that was the pride
of Carl Bulla and due to which he could work using natural
light. Today the historical photo pavilions are equipped
with the latest technology, with the help of which talented
Petersburg photographers can implement the most daring
creative fantasies. The photo studio is equipped with modern
digital cameras, powerful computers, photocopiers. The
special pride of the salon is two unique cameras from Bulla’s
times that make it possible to create retro photos in the
style of the great photo artist. Also, a historical glass dome
of a photographic workshop was erected, towering above
the building of the 54th prerevolutionary Nevsky Prospekt.
In the premises of the new photo salon operates the «Fund
of Historical Photography» named after Carl Bulla aimed at
studying and promoting national photography of the XIX–
first half of the X X century. There is also a museum open
here, expositions are held, and the studio is located, where
you can rent dresses and costumes made according to the
fashion of the XIX century.
Modern photo salon of Carl Bulla is a place where
the traditions of photo art of the beginning of the 20th
century are combined with the latest trends in the world
of photography. Flowers and trees, modern decoration of
the premises, stylized furniture, quality works by Bulla,
pleasant temporary exhibitions, live music and a romantic
view from the roof-balcony of the very heart of Nevsky. In
addition, here and now you can be captured by the followers
of Carl Bulla’s lifework.
Text by: Natalya Glyzina
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