Jan Bułhak

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jan Bułhak (1876-1950) was a pioneer of photography in Poland and one of the best-known Polish photographers of early 20th century. A theoretician and philosopher of photography, he was among the most prominent examples of pictorialism. He is best known for his landscapes and photos of the city of Wilno, he was also the founder of the Wilno Photoclub (1927) and Polish Photoclub, the predecessors of the modern Union of Polish Art Photographers (ZPAF), of which Bułhak was also a honorary headperson.

Jan Brunon Bułhak was born October 6, 1776 in Ostaszyn near Nowogródek, in the Russian partition of Poland. His parents were Walery Antoni Stanisław Bułhak of Syrokomla and Józefa née Haciska of Roch, both local landowners. He owned a photographic studio in Wilno and, since 1919, was also a professor of Artistic Photography at the Stefan Batory University. After the World War II he was expelled from his home by the Soviets and resettled to Giżycko, where he died February 4, 1950.