Jan Bułhak
Jan Brunon Bułhak (born October 6, 1876 in Ostaszyn near Nowogródek , † February 4, 1950 in Giżycko (German: Lötzen)) was an old master of Polish photography.
Bułhak studied philosophy at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków . It was not until 1905 that his wife gave him a simple camera and began to take photos as a layman. At Ferdynand Ruszczyc's suggestion , leisure activities soon became his main job. He came to Dresden in 1912 to study with Hugo Erfurth .
After completing his studies, he returned to Vilnius and began to take pictures of landscapes and cityscapes there. In 1919 he was appointed professor at the chair for photography at the art faculty of the Stefan Bathory University in Vilnius .
In 1927 he founded the Vilna Photoclub. Bułhak was criticized as a conservatist by art critics of the avant-garde, but created classic, timeless photographs. Even today they are irreplaceable documents from the pre-war period. Bułhak lived in Vilnius until 1945, then had to leave the city and move to Warsaw. In Vilna, his collection of around 50,000 glass negatives fell victim to the flames during the city's conquest by Soviet troops.
At the age of 70 he began documenting the ruins of Warsaw. In 1947 he became a co-founder of the Society of Polish Photographers (ZPAF - Związek Polskich Artystów Fotografików). He died four years later during a photographic trip through Masuria .
His son Janusz (born April 27, 1906, † May 15, 1977) studied at the Vilnius Conservatory, became a composer and also a photographer.
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| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Bułhak, Jan |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Bułhak, Jan Brunon (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Polish photographer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 6, 1876 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Ostaszyn near Nowogródek |
| DATE OF DEATH | 4th February 1950 |
| Place of death | Giżycko (German Lötzen) |