Sunday, September 29, 2013

Galleria Taal : More Than Just A Vintage Camera Museum



If a picture paints a thousand words, Galleria Taal has millions of it! Tucked away in the vintage city of Taal, Batangas, Galleria Taal is a one of a kind camera museum. From James Bond Minox B camera to huge panoramic film camera, you will see everything here! If you're thinking this is a camera/photographer enthusiast heaven and this not a place for you, then you got it wrong! This place speaks more of just cameras but rich Philippine history as well!




We arrived a little early than the set time and we were able to get a first hand glimpse of the camera museum. Mr. Manny Inumerable, the owner and collector of cameras arrived and warmly welcomed us and introduced us to the Rolleiflex camera's. Coincidentally, he also gave us our first trivia! Look at the back of an old 500 peso bill (the one with only Senator Benigno Aquino Jr. up front). If you look at the back (lower left side), you can see a young Senator Aquino Jr. holding what looks like a radio box. Apparently, that was a camera! Rolleiflex twin-lens reflex camera to be exact. He used this when he was a correspondent who covered the Korean War.







His museum houses hundreds of camera's, yet according to Mr. Inumerable, there is still more! He initially created this as a temporary attraction, much to his surprise, he decided to keep on going and display the cameras. His love of camera's doesn't stop on displaying them. Believe it or not, 99% of the cameras work (as long as you can find film and battery!). We even got our picture taken by a working Leica O!



As you continue the tour, you are whisked away to a world of how cameras work (in general like aperture, ISO, shutter speed and per camera change made such as the first 3d camera, underwater camera etc), stories of pictures in history such as Jose Rizal's assassination (this was taken by a Spaniard and was almost lost in history ). Later on, we were seated under the comfortable shade at his backyard, as he shared more stories about his camera's and Taal itself. It was a refreshing and knowledgeable experience!



Pictures



Created with flickr slideshow.


San Tayo? Galleria Taal
When : August 31, 2013
Where : 60 Agoncillo St., Taal Batangas
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/pages/Galleria-Taal/198736170138069
Contact number : (043) 408-1775
Hours of Operation : Monday to Sunday, 8AM to 5PM

San Tayo Team for this event



Riza Macabingkil

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