#Exhibit of the Month

The main parts of the camera include the body, bellows, lens, and viewfinder system. The body consists of two lacquered walnut wood frames, joined by a folding black textile bellows that allows the necessary extension for focusing. On the front panel is the Agfa anastigmat lens, mounted in a Compur-type shutter produced by F. Deckel in Munich. It features a foldable "brilliant" viewfinder for both portrait and landscape orientation. It uses glass photographic plates coated with a photographic emulsion, mounted in walnut wood holders, with a frame size of 9x12 cm.
The walnut wood model, considered the flagship "Agfa Isolar Luxus," was designed by the A.H. Rietzschel factory in Munich, acquired by AGFA in 1925, which continued producing this type of camera under its own name until the late 1920s.
The piece was restored by Mihail Culașco, Restoration Department of NMHM.
Brief History of the Camera
The history of the camera spans 200 years, evolving from the camera obscura to today's digital devices. Key milestones include: the first permanent photograph in 1826 by French physicist Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, using a wooden box and a plate coated with bitumen of Judea; the invention of the first photographic process - daguerreotype - in 1839 by Frenchman Louis Daguerre, marking the official birth of photography; the invention of calotype, based on the negative/positive principle, by British physicist and chemist Fox Talbot; the invention of wet collodion plates by Englishman Frederick Scott Archer and dry glass plates by Richard Leach Maddox and John Huds Bennet; the introduction of flexible roll film and the launch of the first Kodak camera by American inventor George Eastman; the release of the first 35 mm film camera by German company "Leica"; the launch of the first instant camera "Polaroid," invented by American Edwin Land. Finally, starting in 1975, this path led to the digital photography revolution. Each successive step made cameras smaller and faster, significantly improving image quality.
The first photographic studio in Chișinău was opened in 1854 by Eduard Glewski, and before World War I, there were already about 100 photography studios in Bessarabia.
The collection of the National Museum of History of Moldova includes over 30 cameras, made in Austria, Germany, France, USSR, Japan, and China, dating from the late 19th century to the 2000s. Among them are folding bellows cameras, BOX-type cameras, single-lens reflex (SLR) and twin-lens reflex (TLR) cameras, as well as digital (DSLR) cameras.

Virtual Tour

Exhibitions

“World Press Photo”

November 18 - December 9, 2020

Chişinău will host for the fourth time the World Press Photo International Exhibition 2020, the most important photographic competition in the world. The event is organized by the Independent Journalism Center (IJC) with the support of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The annual photography competition awards photographers around the world for the best images that have contributed to the development of visual journalism in the last year. Professional photographers, photojournalists and documentary photographers take part in the competition.

For the 2020 competition, the jury of 17 professionals in the field of photography selected the best images and stories that marked last year. The jury established as a key theme of the events of 2019 the protests and the role of young people in promoting changes. The stories regarding environmental issues also stood out, being represented not only in the Environment category, but also in other categories such as Contemporary Issues, Nature or News; all the images emphasize the importance of the subject.

The general public is invited to discover the stories behind the winning photos at the National Museum of History of Moldova, from November 19 to December 9, 2020.

Useful information about the event:

● Opening of the exhibition: November 18, 11:00, National Museum of History of Moldova, entrance by invitations.
● Visiting hours for the general public: from 10:00 to 17:00. Friday - closed.
● Tickets can be purchased at the museum.
● Ticket price: 10 MDL for adults; 5 MDL for students.

The winning photos were selected from a number of 73,996 works by 4,282 photographers from 125 countries. The jury nominated 44 photographers from 24 countries: Algeria, Australia, Belarus, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Mexico, Poland, Peru, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the USA.

The annual World Press Photo International Exhibition is travelling around the world. It was held in almost 100 venues in about 45 countries and was visited by over 4 million people at each edition. Before arriving in Chişinău, the exhibition was organized in Amsterdam, Mexico City, Bari, Seville, Saguenay, Turin, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Valencia, and Dortmund.

The first World Press Photo exhibition took place in 1955, when a group of Dutch photographers organized a competition to exhibit their work in front of an international audience. Over the years, it has become one of the most prestigious photography and visual journalism competitions in the world.

The exhibition, which brings together the best photos taken in 2019, was opened on November 18 in the National Museum of History of Moldova. The event was attended by accredited ambassadors to Chişinău, IJC partners, and journalists; all safety measures were followed in connection with the Covid-19 pandemic.

In Chişinău, the exhibition was organized for the first time in 2017.

The World Press Photo Exhibition is organized in Chişinău by the Independent Journalism Center (IJC) with the support of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

#Exhibit of the Month

Folding bellows camera, “Agfa Isolar Luxus”. AGFA Company, Munich, Germany, 1928

“World Press Photo”

November 18 - December 9, 2020

#Exhibit of the Month