BULHAK, Jan. Fotografia ojczysta. Wroclaw, Ossolinski, 1951.
Large 8vo. Original illustrated card wrappers; pp. xi, 152, [2], numerous plates after photographs; spine with loss, edges of wrappers with wear, text evenly toned, due to paper stock.
First edition of this photobook by the father of Polish photography. The master photographer of Poland of the first half of the 20th century was Jan Bulhak. In 1912 he opened his own studio in Vilnius and lectured at the University where he soon became the head of the Institute of Photography in the department of fine arts (1919 - 1939). In 1927, he helped to found the Wilno Photo-Club as well as the Polish Photo-Club in 1929, of which he was also chairman. Just before the outbreak of the Second World War he presented his entire collection to the Polish State and during a German bombardment about 30,000 negatives were destroyed. Particularly moving are the images of Gdansk and Warsaw in ruins and the ongoing reconstruction efforts.
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