Josip Pelikan Photographic Studio, Celje

Josip Pelikan Photographic Studio a branch of Celje Museum of Recent History was established as a museum exhibition in a year 1989. Studio is without any doubt one of the best preserved luxurious glass photographic ateliers in Europe with original equipment that used famous Slovene photographer Josip Pelikan (1885 - 1977). The 19th-century glass photographic studio on the second floor makes daylight photography possible even today. Museum display presents a special museum collection containing historic photographic equipment, including travel cameras, mobile study cameras, studio lenses and backgrounds. Original photography of various formats, negatives and glass photographic plates show mainly portrait, studio, industry and mountain motives.

History

Studio was first established by Johann Martin Lenz, a photographer based in Celje, that had this studio built in 1899, with three workrooms on the ground floor and a metal-and-glass structure on the second floor. The studio was heated, enabling the photographer to work in it all year round. In 1919 the house and studio were purchased by Josip Pelikan. The photographer left behind much high-quality documentary material from the time he lived in Celje between 1919 and 1977. He was official photograper of city Celje and health centres of the region in the first half of the 20th century for instance Rogaška Slatina, Dobrna and Rimske toplice. He was also During Second World War he documented suffering and war atrocities that were forced upon people of Celje region. After the war he committed himself to landscape photography. At that time he was one the best Yugoslav professional photographers and a strict mentor to his followers teaching old techniques of glass photography, retouch,