Title
Untitled
Year/Period
around 1920s
Region
Straits Settlements or Indonesia
Material
Dimension
Object size: 10.7 x 6.1 cm
Accession No.
2015-01765
Collection of
Credit Line
Gift of Mr and Mrs Lee Kip Lee
This snapshot taken on a street in Penang, of a fashionably attired young man in chic tropical style – drill cotton baju tutop (“closed coat”) and fedora – holding a camera, epitomises the excitement of modernity among young urbanites, including Peranakans, in Penang, Singapore, and other modern Asian port cities. The camera he holds is most probably an Ensign Carbine Tropical Camera, produced by the British firm Houghton-Butcher in 1926. These cameras were advertised for sale in the Singapore newspapers by the following year.
