Gdynia Port in 1946 on Jan Bułhak?s Camera (29 objects)

The 36 photographs by a famous Polish photographer Jan Bułhak taken in 1946 are an interesting collection in the resources of the Gdynia City Museum. They present the damage and work of the Gdynia port.

Jan Bułhak (1876?1950) was one of the most eminent Polish photographers. He was also the creator of the so-called Bułhak aesthetics. The photographs which represent this style resemble engraving and painting. His photographs portrayed the beauty of Poland. After the war he documented the damage of Polish cities.

During his trips both before and after the war, he visited Gdynia. His trips in 1946 resulted in the photographs of the Gdynia port in an album bound with grey cardboard and a piece of paper with the title handwritten by the author stuck on it: ?Jan Bułhak. Gdynia/ in 1946?. Not only the photographs by the outstanding artist make the album so valuable. There is also the inscription to Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski handwritten on the inner side of the cover by Bułhak: ?To Minister / Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski / The creator of Gdynia, indefatigable advocate / of the Polish marine power / as a tribute / J. Bułhak/ Warsaw 1946?.

The 13 x 18 cm photographs are stuck separately onto the album?s pages. Among others, they present the building of the Maritime Station, the ships in the Gdynia port (among others ?Morska Wola?), the damaged English, Danish, Pomeranian, Fish, Cutter and President?s quays as well as transshipment works on the French, Polish, USA?s and Indian quays.