Singapore’s first vintage camera museum sits in what’s being called the world’s biggest camera-shaped building

Photo: Vintage cameras museum – Singapore/Facebook
Photo: Vintage cameras museum – Singapore/Facebook

Nestled in the Kampong Glam district is a museum that pays homage to vintage cameras — heck, you won’t even be able to miss the new attraction if you’re in the area, since its facade is shaped like a huge camera. The Vintage Camera’s Museum sits in what’s being hailed as the world’s biggest camera-shaped building, and it’s also the country’s first and largest museum dedicated to vintage cameras.

Photo: Vintage cameras museum – Singapore/Facebook

Set up by two cousins — steel trader S. Ramanathan and artist A.P. Shreethar — the 2,500 sq ft space features 1,000 cameras dating from as far back as the late 19th century all the way to the early 2000s. Both founders have amassed about 7,000 vintage cameras over 20 years (that’s passion right there), and almost all the ones on display are actually from their own personal collection.

Photo: Vintage cameras museum – Singapore/Facebook

Highlights of the exhibition include a replica of a Mammoth Camera (the 6m-long gadget was invented in 1900), pigeon cameras, and James Bond-style miniature spy cameras such as ones camouflaged in walking canes, cigarette lighters and pocket watches. Besides cameras, the showcase also houses photo collections — including an authentic replica of the first photo ever taken — documentaries on cameras, and a Click Art section that lets you take snapshots of yourself with famous personalities such as Lee Kuan Yew and Charlie Chaplin.

Photo: Vintage cameras museum – Singapore/Facebook

And for those of you who can never seem to quash the urge to touch everything in sight at art exhibitions, this is one of the rare times where you can actually get hands-on with the cameras.

Vintage Camera’s Museum is at 8C and 8D Jalan Kledek. Daily 10.30am-9.30pm. Adults $20, children aged six to 12 and senior citizens over 60 $15. 



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