Galleria Taal Tour – a camera museum and heritage house in Taal, Batangas

 Galleria Taal , Agoncillo Street, Taal, Batangas province – Philippines

 This colonial house is also called Ylagan- Barrion house

Galleria Taal- is part of the jam-packed itinerary prepared by Mr. Derrick M. Manas- President of the Diwa ng Batangas  (Heritage Conservation Society -Batangas Historical Society) The group was recently formed last year and its aim to promote the beautiful heritage of Taal and the entire province of Batangas.  He is also the political, heritage and social development consultant to the governor of Batangas.

Sangley- Tagala

This photo of a Sangley-Tagala ( Chinese / Tagalog) mestiza is a rare example of the photography  late 19th century . What makes this  photo unique ?  The lady had a seductive pose with matching low cleavage  in an era where women must cover the bust area with pañuelo ( handkerchief  shawl ) . Speculation over this photo , Is that the Sangley- Tagala woman might be a mistress of the photographer or a prostitute !

gallery of old cameras

Passion:

The  camera museum is considered as First in Southeast Asia  and one of the few camera museums in the world.  I first saw an exhibit of Mr. Manny Inumerable in Photo World Asia in 2010.  According to Mr. Inumerable , the museum can only exhibit some 60% of his personal collection which started when he was a teenager when his uncle bought him a film camera. Then he acquired his collection from relatives, friends from various camera clubs and local antique shops. Then,  He added more on his collections through bidding at local and  international auctions , in the internet or scouting them during the  yearly flea market fair  in Europe !  Aside from camera collecting , He had become an expert in camera restoration, cleaning , repair and even preservation .  Now , There are more than 120 cameras in the collection and still counting !

Mr. Manny Inumerable personally touring the group

History :

Galleria Taal used to be the ancestral home of Don Domingo Ylagan and Maria Martinez-Ylagan in the 1800’s. Composed of two sections, the early house, located at the back portion has a distinctive tiled roof and was built in 1870.  Approximately thirty years later, the facade fronting the main street was built, roofed this time with GI sheets. The house is also called Ylagan- Barrion house.

Royal 35-M circa 1957 made in Japan

Domingo and Maria Ylagan had six children, namely, Aniceto, Rosario ( Villanueva), Candida ( Barrion ), Concepcion ( Sison), Julita and Juan Ylagan.  The third child, Candida, married to Antonio Barrion, lawyer and a delegate to the 1935 Constitution Convention (1st District, Batangas), paid off her siblings and moved into this home in 1944 after their conjugal home in Batangas City was burned down by the Japanese army.  Candida lived in this home with their three (3) children, Nellie ( Inumerable), Corazon ( Rodriguez)  and Charito (Ahorro).  After her death in 1975, the once stately home fell in disrepair until 2004 when a grandchild, Mr. Emmanuel Inumerable ( Manny initiated its restoration together with the assistance of his brother, Roberto, a civil contractor.  Both painstakingly reconstructed the house, preserving the antiquity of the stately ancestral home.

Rolleiflex cameras

Rolleiflex cameras were manufactured in the 1930’s and up to the late 1950’s and is popularly used by news correspondence during the Korean war in the 1950’s  . The 500 pesos bill replica  shows Senator Benigno Aquino Jr.  during his correspondence in the Korean war .

Mr. Manny Inumerable personally greeted the group

In March 2010, Manny Inumerable opened Galleria Taal as an exhibition venue of antique cameras and antiquarian Philippines photographers.

Museum:

 Nikon F-A Gold camera was made in 1984

This is one of the favorite collection of Mr. Manny Inumerable . This camera was made in 1984 in celebration of Nikon being declared as the European camera of the year . Only 2,000 pieces of this 24-K gold plated camera were made . The body is covered with lizard skin and had matching gold plated lens and is encased in a nice wooden box. This is highly sought by camera collectors around the world because of its beauty and rarity .

early prototype of camera -projector

According to a grapevine source, There are only 2 or 3 such collectors which acquired this camera in the Philippines and one of them is Mr. Manny Inumerable !

Contact Information :

Mr.Emmanuel Inumerable  -proprietor

email: mannyinumerable@yahoo.com

mobile: +63 (918-9124051 )

Ms. Dolores Bautista -Museum curator

Mobile +63 ( 906-7632449)

There is an entrance fee of Php 100 pesos and special buffet meal can be pre-arranged.

Website link:

Galleria Taal: http://taalgalleria.com/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Galleria-Taal/198736170138069