About

The History of the Museum

Along the banks of the Scheldt on the 1st floor is an exhibition of cameras from the end of the 19th century until 2005. An era of three major photographic transformations : black and white and its mechanization, then color still in silver, and finally digital.

Throughout the year, discover the reenactment of:

A black and white film laboratory “Darkroom”
A store from the 1990s
A black and white paper printing lab
An exhibition of cinema cameras from the years 1900 to 2005
A professional studio with shooting equipment.

Our story

Martine Leroux, the daughter of a photographer, has been collecting professional and amateur photographic equipment since the 1970s. Trained by her father between 1975 and 1990, she set up her own portrait photography business in Saint-Amand-les-Eaux (*) in 1992. Throughout her career, she produced baby portraits, wedding and communion photos, and glamour photography, continuing until her retirement in 2017. However, her passion for photography did not end there. She decided to put her free time to good use by opening the Museum of Photographic Art (*Musée de l'Art Photographique*) in October 2018. The museum aims to promote the art of photography through a space dedicated to its history, equipment, and techniques; to showcase a private collection of photographic gear; and to preserve and share the story of how the photography profession evolved between 1975 and 2005. The museum displays exclusively analog equipment (including darkroom gear and cameras).

(*) Saint-Amand-les-Eaux is spa town near Valenciennes in the North of France.