Vintage Camera Museum

Vintage Camera Museums
Front facade of the Vintage Camera Museum, shaped after a Rollei camera
Facade of the Vintage Camera Museum
Vintage Camera Museum is located in Singapore
Vintage Camera Museum
Location within Singapore
Established1 June 2017; 7 years ago (2017-06-01)
Location8C Jalan Kledek, Singapore 199263
Coordinates1°18′13″N 103°51′24″E / 1.303486°N 103.8568053°E / 1.303486; 103.8568053
TypeCamera museum
Founder
  • Solaiyappan Ramanathan
  • A.P. Shreethar
CuratorSolaiyappan Ramanathan
Websitewww.vintagecamerasmuseumsg.com

The Vintage Camera Museum is a camera museum in Kampong Glam which is a neighbourhood and ethnic enclave in Singapore.

History and background

Started by steel trader Solaiyappan Ramanathan and his cousin (and artist) A.P. Shreethar, the camera museum opened on 1 June 2017.[1][2] It was started to educate people the evolution of camera. The exhibits consist of approximately 1,000 cameras from the personal collections of Ramanathan and Shreethar, who both collectively own 7,000 cameras.[1] The cameras are from as far back as the late 19th century all the way to the early 2000s,[3] and include pigeon camera, a Minox spy camera, and Rokuoh-sha Type 89 'Machine Gun' camera that was used by the Japanese as a training weapon during World War II.[1]

The museum was affected by the onset of COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore which it saw a 90% drop in traffic, forcing it to be temporarily closed in 2020.[4]

Architecture

Ramanathan bought a building located at Jalan Kledek and retrofitted it.[1] The façade of the building is shaped after a Rollei camera,[2] and is thus called as the 'world's biggest camera-shaped building'.[3][5][6] Housed in the 2,500 sq ft (230 m2)[3] building are the Vintage Camera Museum, and Click Art Museum, which showcases Shreethar's artwork while allowing visitors to experiment photography with the art pieces.[7]

The museum is housed in a white camera-shaped building with a total floor area of 2,500 square feet, divided into two museums – Vintage Camera Museum and Click art Museum.[1]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Kaur, Gurveen (23 June 2017). "Vintage camera museum reach out to youth on evolution of instrument". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  2. ^ a b Kerr, Adam (6 July 2017). "Singapore is now home to the camera-shaped Vintage Camera's Museum". SG Magazine. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  3. ^ a b c "Singapore's first vintage camera museum sits in what's being called the world's biggest camera-shaped building | Coconuts Singapore". Coconuts. 11 July 2017. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  4. ^ Chia, Osmond (3 April 2020). "Museums, galleries struggling to stay open during Covid-19 outbreak". The New Paper. Archived from the original on 30 November 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  5. ^ Lin, S. J. (16 April 2018). "Singapore's Only Vintage Camera Museum Has Over 1,000 Pieces, Some Which You Can Pick Up And Play With". TheSmartLocal - Singapore's Leading Travel and Lifestyle Portal. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  6. ^ "Vintage Cameras Museum Singapore Keeps One Eye on the History of Photography". Straatosphere. 14 June 2017. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  7. ^ "Vintage Camera's Museum". Visit Kampong Gelam. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
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