Background
Bulla, Viktor was born in 1883 in St. Petersburg. Son of an established photographer, К.K.Bulla.
Bulla, Viktor was born in 1883 in St. Petersburg. Son of an established photographer, К.K.Bulla.
Studied photography with his elder brother Aleksander under the guidance of his father. Studied photography with his elder brother Aleksander under the guidance of his father.
Soon became an indefatigable reporter of great ability, taking tens of thousands of pictures, capturing the historic events and personalities of the time. Made his debut as a reporter for the magazine Niva, taking pictures of the battle front in the Russo-Japanese war, 1904-1905. On his return to St. Petersburg, turned to cinematography and founded the Apollo Company, which produced historical and documentary films.
However, his career was to remain that of a photo-journalist. Photographed the events of the February Revolutionthe artillery battle on Gostinyi Dvor and the destruction of the police archive on the Ekaterininskii canal etc. Many of his photographs taken from the roofs of buildings were used in films by Sergei Eisenstein and Chiaureli.
After the October Revolution 1917, became head of the Petrograd Soviet Photographic Studio, which had previously belonged to his father. Continued work as a documentary photographer. Photographed Lenin who had come to Petrograd to take part in the Second Comintern Congress.
His best-known photos were of Lenin in the Winter Palace, and of Maksim Gorkii. Took part with his brother in the 1928 exhibition, Ten Years of Soviet Photography. Gave the State Archive over 130,000 negatives from the Bulla photographic collection.
