The First Lviv Photo Museum is not only a place where unique exhibits are collected, but also a new center for connoisseurs of photographic art. The collection includes a library of thematic and local history literature, a mobile photo laboratory from the Second World War, memorabilia of the famous photo artist Yaroslav Koval, a member of the Ukrainian Photographic Society (UPHOTO), issues of the Light and Shadow magazine, vintage photo equipment, accordion cameras, the first Polaroid, TLRs and SLRs, etc. To collect more than 10,000 exhibits, the initiator of the creation of the Lviv Photo Museum, Roman Metelskyi, needed more than one year.
The first Lviv Photo Museum is, above all, a great story. Thousands of unique specimens, ranging from daguerreotypes to modern cameras, have found their home in the walls of the Lviv Polytechnic Scientific and Technical Library
«Each exhibit tells a special story. Our Photo Museum presents old specimens from the 1840s and more modern equipment. We are constantly adding interesting exhibits to the museum collection. In the future, we plan to make a separate corner for UPHOTO. In a fairly short time, the Photo Museum became a cultural center of Lviv. This is a place where everyone can communicate with talented individuals, go on excursion, share their own archives and photos. Every week we hold several events and introduce our audience to art. Despite the full-scale war in Ukraine, in the near future UPHOTO plans to organize a visit of Polish colleagues who will give their lectures at the Polytechnic Scientific and Technical Library», says the founder of the Lviv Photo Museum.
A close-knit team of professionals in the field of culture worked on the creation of the first exhibition of the Photo Museum, including: Ihor Harmash, a public and cultural activist, head of one of the oldest film clubs in Ukraine «Artprostir»; Sofiia Lehin, a scientific secretary of the Mykhailo Hrushevskyi State Memorial Museum; and Ihor Tkachyk, a collector and enthusiast of amateur cinema. First of all, the museum performs an educational function and introduces visitors to the art of photography. Roman Metelsky notes that finding a place to accommodate all the exhibits was not an easy task.
After the opening of the Lviv Photo Museum, UPHOTO together with the University Scientific and Technical Library held the Fourth Lviv Photo Festival, as well as raised funds for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
«Cooperation between the Ukrainian Photographic Society and the Scientific and Technical Library, Lviv Polytechnic National University, began in May 2022. During this time, we jointly organized more than half a hundred educational events, which gathered a large audience of admirers of our work. It is worth noting that for each event, the library staff prepares an exhibition of thematic rare materials that acquaint visitors with the unique stock collection of the library. The opening of the first exhibition of the Lviv Photo Museum in the library was also an important event for us. After all, within the walls of the Scientific and Technical Library, representatives of UPHOTO conduct tours on the history of photography, emphasizing the need to popularize Ukrainian photographic heritage», said Andrii Andrukhiv, Director of the Scientific and Technical Library.
