Wlodzimierz Puchalski
Encyclopedia
Włodzimierz Puchalski was a Polish
photographer and film director.
, now Lviv
in the Ukraine
). Puchalski studied at the Politechnika Lwowska to become an agronomic
engineer. He was the first man to use the term "bloodless hunt" to describe hunting wildlife with the use of film and a still photo camera.
He began his photographic career while in the Cadet Corps and during his college studies, initially photographing waterfowl in the fish ponds at Żółkiew (Zhovkva
) from hideouts made of grass, and later carnivorous birds in Sokal. He also immortalized hunting scenes of the Polish nobility.
During World War II
, he worked as a forest ranger in the Sandomierz
Forest only to return to his passion after the war. He joined forces with the Łódź educational film company Wytwórnia Filmów Oświatowych w Łodzi and, travelling constantly throughout Poland, took photographs of nature subjects: flocks of migratory birds on the Biebrza
and Narew
rivers, as well as wisent
, elk
, wolves, lynx
, beaver
s, deer
and smaller animals.
On Spitsbergen
, he gathered substantive material about the fauna of this cold area; in the Polish research station on King George Island in the Antarctic, he photographed penguin
s, sea lion
s, whale
bones and his beloved birds. He died while filming skua
s.
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
photographer and film director.
Life
He was born in Mostki Wielkie, near Lwów (then in Austria-HungaryAustria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
, now Lviv
Lviv
Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following...
in the Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
). Puchalski studied at the Politechnika Lwowska to become an agronomic
Agronomy
Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants for food, fuel, feed, fiber, and reclamation. Agronomy encompasses work in the areas of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and soil science. Agronomy is the application of a combination of sciences like biology,...
engineer. He was the first man to use the term "bloodless hunt" to describe hunting wildlife with the use of film and a still photo camera.
He began his photographic career while in the Cadet Corps and during his college studies, initially photographing waterfowl in the fish ponds at Żółkiew (Zhovkva
Zhovkva
Zhovkva is a city in the Lviv Oblast of western Ukraine, north of Lviv. It is the administrative center of the Zhovkivskyi Raion . The current estimated population is 13,500.-History:...
) from hideouts made of grass, and later carnivorous birds in Sokal. He also immortalized hunting scenes of the Polish nobility.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, he worked as a forest ranger in the Sandomierz
Sandomierz
Sandomierz is a city in south-eastern Poland with 25,714 inhabitants . Situated in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship , previously in Tarnobrzeg Voivodeship . It is the capital of Sandomierz County . Sandomierz is known for its Old Town, a major tourist attraction...
Forest only to return to his passion after the war. He joined forces with the Łódź educational film company Wytwórnia Filmów Oświatowych w Łodzi and, travelling constantly throughout Poland, took photographs of nature subjects: flocks of migratory birds on the Biebrza
Biebrza
Biebrza is a river in north-eastern Poland, a tributary of the Narew river , with a length of 155 kilometres and the basin area of 7,057 km2...
and Narew
Narew
The Narew River , in western Belarus and north-eastern Poland, is a left tributary of the Vistula river...
rivers, as well as wisent
Wisent
The wisent , Bison bonasus, also known as the European bison or European wood bison, is a species of Eurasian bison. It is the heaviest surviving land animal in Europe; a typical wisent is about long, not counting a tail of long, and tall. Weight typically can range from , with an occasional big...
, elk
Moose
The moose or Eurasian elk is the largest extant species in the deer family. Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a dendritic configuration...
, wolves, lynx
Lynx
A lynx is any of the four Lynx genus species of medium-sized wildcats. The name "lynx" originated in Middle English via Latin from Greek word "λύγξ", derived from the Indo-European root "*leuk-", meaning "light, brightness", in reference to the luminescence of its reflective eyes...
, beaver
European Beaver
The Eurasian beaver or European beaver is a species of beaver, which was once widespread in Eurasia, where it was hunted to near extinction both for fur and for castoreum, a secretion of its scent gland believed to have medicinal properties...
s, deer
Deer
Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...
and smaller animals.
On Spitsbergen
Spitsbergen
Spitsbergen is the largest and only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipelago in Norway. Constituting the western-most bulk of the archipelago, it borders the Arctic Ocean, the Norwegian Sea and the Greenland Sea...
, he gathered substantive material about the fauna of this cold area; in the Polish research station on King George Island in the Antarctic, he photographed penguin
Penguin
Penguins are a group of aquatic, flightless birds living almost exclusively in the southern hemisphere, especially in Antarctica. Highly adapted for life in the water, penguins have countershaded dark and white plumage, and their wings have become flippers...
s, sea lion
Sea Lion
Sea lions are pinnipeds characterized by external ear-flaps, long fore-flippers, the ability to walk on all fours, and short thick hair. Together with the fur seal, they comprise the family Otariidae, or eared seals. There are six extant and one extinct species in five genera...
s, whale
Whale
Whale is the common name for various marine mammals of the order Cetacea. The term whale sometimes refers to all cetaceans, but more often it excludes dolphins and porpoises, which belong to suborder Odontoceti . This suborder also includes the sperm whale, killer whale, pilot whale, and beluga...
bones and his beloved birds. He died while filming skua
Skua
The skuas are a group of seabirds with about seven species forming the family Stercorariidae and the genus Stercorarius. The three smaller skuas are called jaegers in North America....
s.