Bulla, Alexander Karlovich

Born in St. Petersburg in 1881. German by birth. His father is a merchant-entrepreneur and an outstanding Russian photographer and reporter Karl Karlovich Bulla , known for photographs of the Imperial Court and the city of St. Petersburg. Mother - Rosalia Bulla (nee Glinska); died of a serious illness, after which Karl married again. Alexander's brother Viktor Bulla - a famous Russian and Soviet photographer and cameraman ; executed in 1938.

There is almost no information about the young years of Alexander Bulla. It is known that the art of photography was first taught by his father, then Alexander went to Germany, where he received a special education in this area. In 1909, having studied photography, he returned to Petersburg and, together with his father and younger brother Victor, began working in his father’s photo studio, located under the sign "K. K. Bulla ”at the address: Nevsky Prospect, 54 (after the revolutionary renaming - Prospect 25 October, 54). Also, together with his brother, he organized the Apollo partnership, where they were involved in the production of documentaries. In 1912, the first photos of Bulla appeared in the journal "The Sun of Russia ". In 1914-1915, Alexander was a front-line correspondent of World War I from this magazine. According to some reports, he was awarded the St. George Cross ^[1] for his dedicated work in combat conditions.

In 1916, after the emigration of his father, he, together with his brother, became a co-owner of a photo studio, on which the sign “The Bulls Brothers” now hung. Later it was nationalized and renamed the “Lensovet photo”.

In 1917, Bulla filmed the events of the February Revolution . After the Bolshevik coup, he began to collaborate with the new government. He was a member of the board of the Leningrad Society of Art and Technical Photography. Since 1918, he began publishing his photo essays in the journal Flame, and soon his work appeared on the pages of magazines such as Petrograd (later renamed Leningrad ), Red Panorama, and also in Moscow's Echo .

In 1928, Bulla was arrested on charges of forging documents and sentenced to imprisonment in a forced labor camp . He served his sentence on Solovki . According to the memoirs of Dmitry Likhachev , there, perhaps, he worked as a guard of the Mehzavod ^[1] . Then Bulla was transferred to Belbaltlag , where he worked as a photographer on the construction of the White Sea-Baltic Canal . Presumably at this time he was released, but he, nevertheless, remained at the construction site. He was later transferred to the construction of the Moscow-Volga Canal, where he worked as a photographer from the photo service of Moskavavolgostroy ( Dmitrovlag ). Here he was allowed to publish pictures under his own name in all publications of this organization.

Upon completion of construction, he left for Moscow, where his daughter Marianna lived. According to existing information, his health by this time was greatly undermined. Alexander Bulla died between approximately 1942 and 1944.

In the creative heritage of the brothers Alexander and Victor, it is rather difficult to identify one or another work belonging to one of them. Only published cards indicating authorship can do this. Famous photographs of Alexander Bulla with Yasna Polyana , where he was with his father, from the aviation week in St. Petersburg, a series of his photographs of the St. Petersburg Zoo , views of the city, which were published by Kuffeld ^[1] .

Alexander Bulla filmed the opening of monuments, scenes from the performances of St. Petersburg theaters. He devoted much attention to portrait photography, capturing many artists of his time, including F. I. Chaliapin , E. E. Lansere , F. K. Sologub , A. P. Pavlov and others. Together with his brother Victor, Alexander was engaged in cinema art. Over the two years of their cooperation in the Apollo partnership, about forty documentaries were produced, including on a sports theme.

What is important in the work of Alexander Bulla is that he recorded on a film film significant historical events for Russia, such as the First World War, the February Revolution or the construction sites of the first five-year plans . His works tell us about the complexity and ambiguity of the era in which he lived and created, and for us they retain valuable documentary evidence of our history.

Was married. Daughter - Marianne Bulla, lived in Moscow.

• Bulla . Great Russian Encyclopedia.
• Bulla Alexander Karlovich (1881-1942 (1944)) . Channel Moscow - Volga.

• Anthology of Soviet photography. - M., 1986. - T. 1: 1917-1940.
• Nikitin V. A. Stories about photographers and photographs. - L., 1991.
• Russian photography: Mid XIX - early XX centuries. - M., 1996.
• The Germans of Russia: Encyclopedia. - M., 1999 .-- T. 1.