The electronic exhibition dedicated to the oeuvre of the Bulla dynasty to be presented in the Austrian capital

August 3, 2020, the website of the Russian Center of Science and Culture in Vienna will host the opening of the electronic exhibition "The Creative Legacy of Karl Bulla and His Sons", a joint project of the Presidential Library and the Karl Bulla Foundation for Historical Photography.

The virtual exhibition will feature digitized photographs from the Foundation's private collection, which depict famous cultural figures, sights of St. Petersburg, important and everyday events that took place in the capital of the Russian Empire. Of special significance are historical photographs devoted to Russian-Austrian relations: photographs of Emperor Franz Joseph I, deputies of the Austrian parliament, famous artists and athletes.

Karl Oswald Bulla (1855–1929) went down in history as “the father of Russian photography”. Born into a German merchant family in the Prussian city of Leobschütz, in 1866 he moved with his parents to St. Petersburg and became the first and most famous Russian photojournalist, founder of a dynasty of photographers and cameramen. Together with his sons Alexander and Viktor, as well as his grandson Yuri, he captured on film key events in Russian history of the late 19th - first half of the 20th centuries. Representatives of the Bulla dynasty became photographic chroniclers of the 200th anniversary of St. Petersburg, the 100th anniversary of the Kazan Cathedral, the 300th anniversary of the House of Romanovs, the unveiling of the monument to Emperor Alexander III, parades on Palace Square with the participation of Emperor Nicholas II and etc.

The Presidential Library’s collections contain the monograph "The first photographer of Russia Karl Bulla". It, as well as many other materials on the famous dynasty, is available in the public domain on the institution's portal.

The electronic exposition "The Creative Legacy of Karl Bulla and His Sons" was based on the materials from the traveling photo exhibition "German Karl Bulla, the first Russian photographer", which was previously organized by the Presidential Library in cooperation with the Karl Bulla Foundation for Historical Photography. 80 unique historical photographs placed on 45 tablets have already been seen by residents of many cities in Germany: Berlin, Frankfurt am Main, Dresden, Leipzig, Zerbst. At the end of 2020, it is planned to open an exposition in the library of the University of Regensburg.