#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.

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Events Archive

The event „Discover Children’s dream planet with Spiridon Vangheli”

June 1st, 2015

For the celebration of the International Children's Day on June 1st, the National Museum of History of Moldova organized in collaboration with Culture Department of Chișinău municipality an event with the generic „Discover Children's dream planet with Spiridon Vangheli". The event was attended by children with parents, grandparents and educators from Chișinău and different rural areas of the republic.

During the event, composer Constantin Rusnac performed at the piano a few songs for children and Nicoleta Arhiriuc, pupil in the 4th grade at the Theoretical lyceum „Ion Creangă", recited poetry.

The key moment of the action was the presence among the children of the famous writer Spiridon Vangheli who told stories about his collaboration with Grigore Vieru in developing the ABC and writing the book „The reign of Ciuboțel", read stories about Guguță and fragments from the ABC, spoke with the children and gave autographs. The writer expressed his satisfaction that the event offered him once again the opportunity to be in the world of childhood, together with his readers.

A contest was organized as part of the event - „Letter to Guguță" - with money awards and books offered by Culture Department. This contest was aimed at nurturing children's interest and knowledge of cultural identity values of Republic of Moldova, for the artistic creation of the writer Spiridon Vangheli, for the knowledge of Romanian language. Children wrote letters to Guguță, the most interesting ones being read loud by moderator Lucia Culev, the head of Culture Department.

Incentive awards for participation at the contest were offered to children aged 6 to 13 years, including: Ștefan Bîrlădeanu, Alina Staver, Cristian Suhodaru, Grigore Ciobanu, Iulian Ciobanu, Serghei and Dumitraș Frunză, Andreea and Teodor Durnea, Daniel Cuciuc, Adrian Popescu, Igor Ciubuc, Valeria Tabac etc. For the most beautiful letters Gheorghe Zavtoni, from Ratuș village, Criuleni district, was awarded the 3rd award (100 lei) and to Cătălina Cazacu, from Tîrnova village, Dondușeni district, the 2nd award (200 lei). Spiridon Vangheli congratulated, in his turn, all the participants at the contest, bestowing books with his autographs, hugs and words of praise.