Victor Bulla

Victor Bulla (1883-1938) was the son of Saint Petersburg photographer Karl Bulla and took up photography through his family's photo agency.  He began his independent career at age 19 capturing photographs of the Siberian Reserve Brigade in the Russian-Japanese War.  His photographs were published in the periodicals Niva and Sparks and later reprinted in Russian newspapers and magazines. Bulla was awarded a silver medal For Courage, and the St. George ribbon following the war. 

Bulla returned to work with his family after the Russian-Japanese War and became interested in newsreels. In 1909, he and his brother Alexander partnered up to create a documentary film studio called Apollo, where Bulla worked as the cameraman, producer and director. After two years, their studio released around 40 films on nature-related subject matter, and newsreels.

At the outbreak of World War I, Bulla resumed work in his father's photo agency shooting numerous events of 1917-1918, including the documentary film on the February Revolution of 1917, Chronicle of the Revolution in Petrograd.  Bulla then photographed the events of the October 1917 uprising and directed photography for the Petrograd soviet.  He also created portraits of Grigori Zinoviev, Lev Kamentsev, Stalin and other Soviet and Party leaders. 

In 1928 Bulla and his brother submitted 30 photographs to the exhibition Ten Years of Soviet Photography, where he was awarded with an honorary certificate.  In 1938, Bulla was arrested following an accusation from an employee of being an "Enemy of the People." He was exiled to the Far East, where he died in 1938.