Photography Museum Maribor

Photography Museum Maribor boasts the permanent exhibition Avgust and Maria Bohanec Collection. The collection comprises 1645 items, including more than 1100 cameras, film cameras and projectors. It is not the sole purpose of the Photography Museum to present the development of photography techniques and photography in general; it also hosts a gallery displaying the works of the greatest masters of photography.

Avgust Bohanec- The First Exclusive Leica Dealer in the USA

Avgust Bohanec was born in 1933 in Mala Nedelja pri Bučkovcih. Aged twenty-eight, he went abroad in search of better earnings. In the USA, he gradually asserted himself as a dealer in photography equipment. He became the major repair service provider and representative of the world-famous German company Ernest Leitz of Wetzlar, which manufactures the renowned Leica cameras. He acquired the right to keep the officially assigned title The First Exclusive Leica Dealer in the USA on his business cards and the signboard above his shop until retirement.

Avgust Bohanec is a renowned collector of photography equipment. In collecting cameras and maintaining the collection, he is assisted by his wife Maria, who is of Mexican origin. In 1980s, Avgust Bohanec decided to donate his camera collection to Maribor. The donation agreement was signed on 1 July 1988.  The collection comprises 1645 items, including more than 1100 cameras, film cameras and projectors. The remaining items are accessories, including light meters, range finders, flashes, filters, shutters and alike. The Museum has been upgrading the collection with cameras that were used by masters of photography coming from Maribor and elsewhere in Slovenia.