Join us for a visit to a hugely interesting museum of photography - an old factory building full of fancy stuff!
Westlich is a photography museum housing changing exhibition of photography but also an extensive collection of historical cameras. Founded in 2001, the privately run museum exposes international and Austrian history of photography. Mr Peter Cole, an enthusiast and camera collector, opened the museum as a private initiative together with a group of other collectors - later resulting in his being awarded the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art in 2022.
The 1950’s loft in the 7th district was preciously a glass factory and later a photo studio. Today the museum sports some 10 exhibitions every year ranging from current trends to classics of the medium and group and theme exhibitions. The museum also hosts the largest exhibition on photojournalism - World Press Photo - every year.
The photo collection covers over 120,000 items with all production techniques from plate photos and glass slides to various printing processes on paper. The collection focuses on daguerreotypes, early paper prints, international photojournalism, nude photography and Austrian photography in general. The museum has also acquired large chunks of items from certain international collections, such as the Japanese Pentax Collection or the Polaroid Collection.
The Camera Museum exhibits historically and technically significant cameras. The permanent exhibition covers some 500 devices, both private loans and the museum’s own collections, including 300 different Leica viewfinders and an extensive collection of spy and miniature cameras. The most valuable exhibit in the museum is the world's first commercially produced camera - the Susse Frères Daguerréotype.
The museum is also hosting the WestLicth Photographic Auction twice a year. In 2018, a Leica 0 series from 1923 was auctioned for 2.4 million Euros!
The museum is not really for persons in a wheelchair or with a pram - steep stairs up. There is a nice café in the premises as well as a brilliant store for the connaisseurs.
Westlicht. Schauplatz für Fotografie
Westbahnstrasse 40, 1070 Wien
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