On 26^th of November 1996 in Nowy Targ, there was opened the Regional PTTK Museum, which was later renamed and today functions under the name Czesław Pajerski Museum in Podhale region. Being the initiator of establishing this regional Museum in Nowy Targ, Czesław Pajerski (1931-2000) had been working as its curator for many years. Thanks to his efforts, among museum core collections including ethnographic, cultural, and historical items from Podhale region, there can be also found some photographs of Nowy Targ gathered from private collections and institutions. In the course of time this collection of photographs, thanks to donations, was becoming greater and greater and today consists of several hundred original photos and its reproductions dated from 19^th century to 1970s. These photographs picture some views of Nowy Targ and document many important events in the history of the town, its cultural, socio-economic and religious background, as well as everyday life and jobs of the citizens. Many of them are the portraits of inhabitants taken by the professional photographers working in the town at that time. The most interesting pieces, among others, are: the oldest photographs depicting historical, no longer existing sceneries of the town; photos from the visitor’s book of the Józef Haller Association¹; pictures dating back to the times of German occupation signed by Zbigniew Sułkowski photo lab; photos from the private collections of Stanisław Pęksa, the notary public and Zbigniew Sułkowski, the local judge; photographs taken by the students of the local high school (I Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Seweryna Goszczyńskiego) attending the Photographic Group supervised by Prof. Józef Bryniczka. Moreover, in 2000, the Museum was enriched with the collection of photos coming from the photo archive of the well-known professional photographer in Nowy Targ, Edward Morawetz, which was donated by his daughter, Irena Starczowska.

¹ Józef Haller Associaton (pl. Związek Hallerczyków) – the organization grouping the soldiers and sympathizers of the Józef Haller Army (i.e. polish army fighting in France during the First World War).

The photographs gathered in the Museum were frequently presented on various exhibitions. In 1974, thanks to the efforts of Czesław Pajerski, in the local high school (I Liceum Ogólnokształcące), there were presented some old, saved photos documenting the history of the junior high school (pl. gimnazjum) in Nowy Targ, the ephemeral prints and the first flag of the school. This exhibition has become the permanent exposition of the Regional PTTK Museum organized in the rooms of the former school chapel (photography from the collection of A. Nowak. In the photo, there are pictured the members of the Museum Committee operating since 1967 headed by Adam Szoski, the lawyer and by the teacher at high school. From the left side of the photo stand: Józef Rayski, Adam Szoski, Antoni Nowak, Aniela Stołowska, Zofia Stopka, Aleksander Stal, Stanisław Bafia i Czesław Pajerski)

The Museum of Podhale region was the author and the organizer of many thematic exhibitions on which there were presented the most valuable and the most interesting photos, like for example: “Nowy Targ at the turn of 19^th and 20^th century” (1994) (pl. “Nowy Targ na przełomie XIX i XX wieku”, “Not lost forever. Nowy Targ in the photography of Edward Morawetz” (2000) (pl. „Aby nie przepadło na zawsze. Nowy Targ w fotografii Edwarda Morawetza”), two commemorative exhibitions concerning the history of the fire-brigade in Nowy Targ (2001 and 2011), “The crazy Twenties and Thirties of the 20^th century– entertainment of the inhabitants in Nowy Targ” (pl. “Szalone lata XX-te i XXX-te XX wieku – rozrywki nowotorżan”) and „Sports in Nowy Targ in the early 20^th century” (pl. “Nowotarski sport w pierwszej połowie XX wieku”).

It is worth remembering that in 1984, at the Cooperative Community Center (pl. Spółdzielczy Dom Kultury), there was organized the symposium entitled “The past of the Nowy Targ region” (pl. “Z przeszłości Nowotarszczyzny”) connected with the exhibition called “The photography of Nowy Targ in 19^th and 20^th century” (pl. “Nowy Targ w XIX i XX wieku w fotografii”) that was prepared by Antoni Nowak. He was also the initiator of the contest “The portraits of the citizens in Nowy Targ” announced in 1991 by Podhalańskie Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Nauk (pl. Podhale Association for Friends of Science) in cooperation with the Municipal Community Center (MCC) in Nowy Targ.