Public Photography

I’ve remarked here before that while photographic equipment is accessible here in Singapore, we don’t enjoy the same breadth of subjects possible. Oh, there’s that whole argument about making the best of what you have around you – and there are still subjects aplenty, some of which are off the well-trodden track – like how a couple of photographers here make regular trips to cemeteries in Singapore at night to shoot LOL.

But the limited space thing is very real in Singapore, and that’s why public photography is such a controversial thing here on the island. It’s both an Asian thing (that we’re protective of our individual and ‘private’ space), and also that Singaporeans are also in general notoriously bureaucratic and always lean on ‘higher authority’ to explain anything we’re not sure of.

So, when someone wrote to The Straits Times forum to ask why he was stopped by mall security from taking pictures of his family, the reply that came back wasn’t surprising at all:

We would like to thank Mr Krishnan for his feedback. Like many of our other malls, Northpoint shopping centre is situated near an MRT station. There are therefore security concerns which require our security staff to be vigilant about photo-taking activities at the mall in general. Security staff may also stop shoppers from taking photos of tenants’ shop fronts to protect the tenants’ privacy. There are signs at all entrances of the mall to indicate that no photography is allowed.

Individuals who wish to take photos of the malls as well as tenants’ shop fronts for special purposes such as school and publishing assignments are required to seek permission before doing so.

…

Lee Kam Seng
Senior Centre Manager
Northpoint

… though I still find the standpoint just silly. In this day and age, are there still people who seriously think that determined terrorists who’re stopped from taking pictures at shopping malls won’t find some other way of gathering intel. There are far better preventive mechanisms, especially those pertaining to public awareness, consensus building and buy-ins from ground support, than merely stopping families and photography enthusiasts from taking pictures in malls.

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Either way, now that we’ve begun taking Hannah out to public places, the need for a more discreet camera is coming to the fore and front. Carting around a huge DSLR isn’t exactly inconspicuous and is inviting mall security to look at you strangely. Ling’s Panasonic LZ8 works fine in broad daylight, but when indoors suffers greatly in image resolution and there’s a lot of sensor noise. So, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Nikon and Canon comes up with its larger sensor compact cameras very soon.