#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 15 – December 6, 2023

Traditionally, in November, the Republic of Moldova will host the World Press Photo International Exhibition. The 2023 edition of this prestigious competition, which recognizes quality photojournalism, will be organized in Chisinau for the seventh consecutive time, but also, for the first time, in Comrat. The two exhibitions are organized by the Center for Independent Journalism (CJI) and the Piko Creative Agency, with the support of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Chisinau.

The exhibition, which includes the best photographs taken in the world during 2022, will be launched in Chisinau on November 15, in the premises of the National History Museum of Moldova, and in Comrat on November 22 in the premises of the State University of Comrat.

The World Press Photo 2023 competition was held in six regions around the world - Africa, Asia, Europe, North and Central America, South America and Southeast Asia, and Oceania. The jury finally selected 24 regional winners, of which four global winners were named:

World Press Photo of the Year - "Airstrike on Mariupol Maternity Hospital" by Evgeniy Maloletka for Associated Press;
World Press Photo Story of the Year - "The Price of Peace in Afghanistan" by Mads Nissen for Politiken/Panos Pictures.
World Press Photo Long Term Project - "Battered Waters" by Anush Babajanyan for VII Photo/National Geographic Society.
Open Format World Press Photo - "The Doors Don't Know Me" by Mohamed Mahdy.

The 24 winners and six honorable mentions, whose photographs reflect frontline histories of war, culture, identity, migration, were selected by an independent jury from a total of 60,448 photographs submitted by 3,752 photographers from 127 countries. The winning images of World Press Photo 2023 draw attention to the biggest issues facing humanity today - documenting the war in Ukraine and the impact of the war on civilians, the historic protests in Iran, the realities of Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, the many aspects of the climate crisis in countries such as Morocco, Australia, Peru, Kazakhstan. At the same time, the contest emphasizes the importance of press photography throughout the world.

The regional winners of the World Press Photo Contest 2023 are 24 photographers from 23 countries: Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Belgium, China, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Iran, Italy, Mexico, Morocco, Myanmar, Peru , South Africa, Spain, Philippines, Ukraine, United States and Venezuela.

The launch of the exhibition will take place on November 15, at 15:00, at the National Museum of History of Moldova, based on invitations. The general public is invited to discover the stories behind the winning photos between November 16 and December 6, 2023, in Room no. 1 of the National Museum of History of Moldova, 31 August 1989 street, 121A.

#Exhibit of the Month

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

World Press Photo

November 15 – December 6, 2023

#Exhibit of the Month