Sonja Vera Bullaty (October 17, 1923, Prague, Czechoslovakia – October 5, 2000, New York) was a Czech-American photographer. Bullaty is known for her "lyrical composition" and strong use of color during her fifty-year collaboration with her husband, Angelo Lomeo. [1] Bullaty and Lomeo's photographs appeared in LIFE, Time and Audubon magazines and journal. [2] They have both exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the International Center of Photography, [2] the George Eastman House, UMPRUM Museum in Prague, in the Nikon House galleries and other venues. [3]
Bullaty was born in Prague to a Jewish banking family. [1] Her family gave her a camera when she turned fourteen. [4] Since Bullaty had been forced to leave school at the time, the camera was a "consolation gift." [1] When Bullaty was eighteen, she was deported by the Nazis to Poland, where she was kept in the Lodz ghetto, [5] and then later taken to Auschwitz and Gross-Rosen concentration camps. [6] During a death march near Dresden, she and a friend successfully hid in a barn and were able to escape and return to Prague. [1] When she got back to her home city, she discovered that no one else in her family had survived the Holocaust. [1]
Bullaty, "her head shaved," saw and answered an advertisement to be the helper to Czech photographer, Josef Sudek. [7] [6] As his assistant, she mixed chemicals for the darkroom, organized his negatives and learned from his sense of composition. [1] Sudek called her his "apprentice-martyr." [8] Sudek's work often focused on the Czech landscape and windows, such as in the series The Windows of My Studio (1940-1954). [9] Bullaty also photographed windows, but unlike Sudek, who photographed his own windows looking out, Bullaty photographed windows looking into buildings. [10] Bullaty published a book, Sudek (1978), about her mentor, and it was the first publication of his work in the West. [1] [11]
A "distant relative" of Bullaty found her name on a Holocaust survivor's list and invited her to stay in New York in 1947, paying the boat fair from Europe for Bullaty. [1] Bullaty quit working for Sudek, but they remained friends, exchanging letters over the years. [7] Many of his letters to her were written on the backs of his photographs. [12]
Bullaty found work with a photographer on her third day in New York. [13] Also in 1947, she met Angelo Lomeo. [6] They were brought together when she was inquiring about a darkroom in a building he managed. [1] Lomeo was intrigued by Bullaty's accent and went to see her. [13] They started photographing together a year later, traveling and sharing resources; during their time together, they became close. [13] Bullaty and Lomeo were married in 1951. [1] Later, when she was married, she and her husband would visit Sudek and bring him photography supplies. [12] They visited him in Czechoslovakia "almost yearly." [14] In 1971, she helped mount an exhibition of Sudek's work in New York. [8]
As photographers, Bullaty and Lomeo started using studio cameras, but eventually changed to working on location with 35-mm SLR cameras. [10] They began their career photographing artwork for museums and galleries. [1] In addition, much of their work was originally in black and white, but they switched to color in 1970. [1] Lomeo and Bullaty had their first photographic assignment in 1948, located in the American South. [4] While photographing, Bullaty was grabbed by a Ku Klux Klansman and "pretended to be merely a tourist." [4] Bullaty and Lomeo worked together on assignments all over the world. [10] One series that Bullaty and Lomeo worked together on included windows from around the world and was featured in Popular Photography magazine. [15] LIFE magazine featured their photos of Yugoslavian peasant-painters and their art in 1964. [16] The couple were the first to receive the Olivia Ladd Gilliam Award from the Orion Society. [3]
Despite working together, Bullaty had her own personal vision: she was intrigued by " Kafkaesque shadows she remembers from her childhood." [13] She also captured the effects of climate and seasons in her landscape work. [17] Bullaty said, "I have often felt that the reason I celebrate life and beauty is precisely because I have seen so much pain and ugliness." [18]
Bullaty died from cancer at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center on October 5, 2000. [6] In 2001, Bullaty and Lomeo had 72 photographs featured in The World Trade Center Remembered. [19]
Sonja Vera Bullaty (October 17, 1923, Prague, Czechoslovakia – October 5, 2000, New York) was a Czech-American photographer. Bullaty is known for her "lyrical composition" and strong use of color during her fifty-year collaboration with her husband, Angelo Lomeo. [1] Bullaty and Lomeo's photographs appeared in LIFE, Time and Audubon magazines and journal. [2] They have both exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the International Center of Photography, [2] the George Eastman House, UMPRUM Museum in Prague, in the Nikon House galleries and other venues. [3]
Bullaty was born in Prague to a Jewish banking family. [1] Her family gave her a camera when she turned fourteen. [4] Since Bullaty had been forced to leave school at the time, the camera was a "consolation gift." [1] When Bullaty was eighteen, she was deported by the Nazis to Poland, where she was kept in the Lodz ghetto, [5] and then later taken to Auschwitz and Gross-Rosen concentration camps. [6] During a death march near Dresden, she and a friend successfully hid in a barn and were able to escape and return to Prague. [1] When she got back to her home city, she discovered that no one else in her family had survived the Holocaust. [1]
Bullaty, "her head shaved," saw and answered an advertisement to be the helper to Czech photographer, Josef Sudek. [7] [6] As his assistant, she mixed chemicals for the darkroom, organized his negatives and learned from his sense of composition. [1] Sudek called her his "apprentice-martyr." [8] Sudek's work often focused on the Czech landscape and windows, such as in the series The Windows of My Studio (1940-1954). [9] Bullaty also photographed windows, but unlike Sudek, who photographed his own windows looking out, Bullaty photographed windows looking into buildings. [10] Bullaty published a book, Sudek (1978), about her mentor, and it was the first publication of his work in the West. [1] [11]
A "distant relative" of Bullaty found her name on a Holocaust survivor's list and invited her to stay in New York in 1947, paying the boat fair from Europe for Bullaty. [1] Bullaty quit working for Sudek, but they remained friends, exchanging letters over the years. [7] Many of his letters to her were written on the backs of his photographs. [12]
Bullaty found work with a photographer on her third day in New York. [13] Also in 1947, she met Angelo Lomeo. [6] They were brought together when she was inquiring about a darkroom in a building he managed. [1] Lomeo was intrigued by Bullaty's accent and went to see her. [13] They started photographing together a year later, traveling and sharing resources; during their time together, they became close. [13] Bullaty and Lomeo were married in 1951. [1] Later, when she was married, she and her husband would visit Sudek and bring him photography supplies. [12] They visited him in Czechoslovakia "almost yearly." [14] In 1971, she helped mount an exhibition of Sudek's work in New York. [8]
As photographers, Bullaty and Lomeo started using studio cameras, but eventually changed to working on location with 35-mm SLR cameras. [10] They began their career photographing artwork for museums and galleries. [1] In addition, much of their work was originally in black and white, but they switched to color in 1970. [1] Lomeo and Bullaty had their first photographic assignment in 1948, located in the American South. [4] While photographing, Bullaty was grabbed by a Ku Klux Klansman and "pretended to be merely a tourist." [4] Bullaty and Lomeo worked together on assignments all over the world. [10] One series that Bullaty and Lomeo worked together on included windows from around the world and was featured in Popular Photography magazine. [15] LIFE magazine featured their photos of Yugoslavian peasant-painters and their art in 1964. [16] The couple were the first to receive the Olivia Ladd Gilliam Award from the Orion Society. [3]
Despite working together, Bullaty had her own personal vision: she was intrigued by " Kafkaesque shadows she remembers from her childhood." [13] She also captured the effects of climate and seasons in her landscape work. [17] Bullaty said, "I have often felt that the reason I celebrate life and beauty is precisely because I have seen so much pain and ugliness." [18]
Bullaty died from cancer at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center on October 5, 2000. [6] In 2001, Bullaty and Lomeo had 72 photographs featured in The World Trade Center Remembered. [19]