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Having done street or events photography for a while, negotiating your way through officials attempting to discourage you from taking photographs comes easily.
“It’s not for commercial purposes.” is the first thing I say to them. “It’s purely for personal use”, or “The people and places in my photos will not be brought into contempt” and other tried and tested phrases usually work.
On Friday night at the Singapore Arts Museum, however, I was further asked if I would be putting my photos online. I was truthful and told the lady that I may blog about it to help promote the Japan Media Arts Festival; but she was still hesitant but she was too polite about it to successfully forbid me from taking photos.
Then at the next zone of the exhibition, I was approached by another staff member, clad in black, and he asked me to refrain from photography. I did the usual rhetoric, and that I was not going to use flash. He was adamant, and said that it was a ‘museum policy’. So I pointed out the absence of ‘No Photography’ signs about the gallery, and that if they were really against the public taking photos, they should really put signs up. “That would make your job easier too,” I added. I passed him my namecard, and told him that I can be contacted if they wished to take this matter further, but I was going to continue snapping shots. “How many, and which ones?” He asked. I replied that I couldn’t say for sure - it would depend on the lighting of the exhibit, and whether or not I’d be able to frame any good shots. He wanted to call for his manager, and asked if I had any photo ID to indicate that I was a bona fide photographer. Well… I lacked the Singapore equivalent of a BAJ Press Pass and so gave him my PSS membership card instead. He seemed happy enough. So his manager came; we talked - she tried to do what her staff failed to, and I questioned her about their ‘policy’ and asked her for the rationale. She wasn’t too sure about it herself, only that the ‘directives came from the top’. I explained that if this was an exhibition with artifacts, then I’d understand. But the JMAF was all contemporary objects and there was nothing too sensitive about it. In the end, she relented.
I’ll be blasted if I am forced to follow some non-formally-enforced rule which I cannot make sense of. This reminds me of the No U-Turn syndrome: ‘In Singapore, drivers are not allowed to make a U-turn unless a sign specifically allows them to do so, while in some other countries drivers may make U-turns freely so long as the ‘No U-turn’ sign is not present’. I bet photography in Singapore is almost like that: ‘photographers are not allowed to take any photos unless a sign specifically allows them to do so, while in other countries photographers may take photographs freely so long as a ‘No Photography’ sign is not present.’
For all that fuss…
Photos :: SAM JMAF 08
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