A Thought

[jsbn]

Yesterday nite had a brainwave when I was taking the MRT. I'm not sure if its feasible so I thought I'll juz put up a proposal here to see how many are keen. If there's a substaintial number of guyz who're interested here, I might juz roll along with it.

Do take note that this proposal, if rolled out, would be at the expense of clubsnappers OWN MONEY and TIME. The extreme scenario would be that, no one gives a damn about it and u prolly wun see any monetary rewards heading your way.

Ok, enuff of the doomsday talk, I'll get to my brainwave now.

- Start of Brainwave -

Yesterday, when I was taking the MRT, I was wondering about the various 'attractions', uniquely Singapore, that are located at the individual MRT stations. So I was thinking of taking the MRT, stopping at all the stations, exiting and going around the particular neighbourhood to shoot photos.

Ultimately the compilation of photos would be made into a book, and hopefully with the blessings of the all the bosses of Clubsnap, endorsed under the Clubsnap name and sold (or maybe even given) to our overseas forumites, supporters. And of cos, carrying the hope (after giving a copy to STB, Canon & Nikon Singapore) that it would gain public recognition and stuff like this.

The sale of the book would probably help Clubsnap itself develop even further whilst enshrining some of the best works and shots of our little country and people. Ultimately all those who are involved in the project would be renumerated for their hard work thru the sale of this book.

- End of Brainwave -

Pardon me if u guys feel like I'm juz putting out a lot of hot air and stuff like this. Perhaps this is the result of sleeping late for the past 2 days.

Share your opinions please?

 

[nightwolf75]

:thumbsup: good idea! as long as we are not shooting the stations itself, we shld be pretty safe.

small thot to add on - must it be every stop, or some prominent stops better? IMO, more manageable if we stop at some preselected stops rather than every stop.

 

[Del_CtrlnoAlt]

i think making a book about rides in MRT of singapore is better, than talk about the places of interest around each mrt stop. kinda like a tourist guide... but most likely need approval from SMRT/SBS & TDB

 

[quekky]

good idea, u might wanna propose to STB. they might take the idea as it'll promote singapore as well, maybe they might even sponser some parts of it

 

[jsbn]

:thumbsup: good idea! as long as we are not shooting the stations itself, we shld be pretty safe.

small thot to add on - must it be every stop, or some prominent stops better? IMO, more manageable if we stop at some preselected stops rather than every stop.

Selamat Pagi bang

Well my part of idea is actually not to stop at those usual, prominent sites like Dholby Ghaut, Orchard, Somerset, City Hall, etc. But a single stop at every station with approximately 10 people covering every station for a radius of 10 to 20km around the station. For larger, touristy places, we'll probably need like 20 people covering that area.

The aim is not only to showcase the usual boring ol' spots, but also some refreshing views of Singapore as well, the heartlanders. From the Ah Peks at kopitiam, to the morning bargaining calls at the wet market and the temple devotees who flock to the temple every weekend.

As this brainwave is probably (and hopefully) gonna go into a huge project of sorts, it'll maybe cover the entire year which will also run into public holidays (shoot shoot shoot! ) with their many uniquely Singapore feature.

I'm not sure what the response is gonna be, as this brainwave probably is going to be on a very, very massive scale (I'm not saying Singapore is the size of Russia, but to zoom into details can kill liao). Understand that all of u are really busy people, I'm not a full-time photographer to begin with (juz prolly a noob with no business acumen). In order for this brainwave to develop, I'll probably need lotsa support frm u guys (considering that I don't have much leadership qualities in me) and blessings frm CS bosses and members.

My England notch say very the powderful oso even though I might have the rough idea there, so writing those business proposal to STB might be a problem for me.

With blessings from the relevant authorities (blessings from the Police as well as the Army is probably necessary as some military camps are located in heartlands), I believe shooting at the stations might not be a problem, especially when some stations offer quite a nice overall view of the surrounding area. Of cos, I'm not talking about using a big mama lens to shoot directly into army camps. That's liable for espionage charges if u get my meaning... :bigeyes:

 

[jsbn]

Something to add on.

Whilst STB produces brochures and stuff like this, do u guys notice that there's something about all these brochures? They concentrate on pretty standard stuff like food and things like this, very little of scenery and almost nothing about the people? I'm not sure how STB goes about their photography but it seems that they are not really interested in street photography, or even their own people (ie, Singaporeans) in their daily life and stuff like this.

 

[yanyewkay]

I'm on for this project. I've always loved to learn about people's everyday lives overseas instead of the normal hustle and bustle cities. I hope we can bring about our normal lives to people overseas. I have no experience organising shoots but just want to contribute to shooting.

 

[nightwolf75]

jsbn - tuan, think we can try asking STB? no harm lah. ;p

yanyewkay got a point. most of the time, the brochures are some airy-fairy nice-nice pics of flowers and smiling dolled-up little girls and somebody feeding ah meng. even if STB dun support your idea, its a good personal project to document actual every day life in and ard the heartlands.

 

[jsbn]

Hmm... Maybe can sit down and start to pen da letter liao. Complete with proposal and stuff like dat. I guess it'll be more helpful if it comes with a proposal rather den a letter with ideas but no concrete plans. I dun think those ppl so free to sit down think of the plans.

But I feel if da project wanna come thru, might be helpful to put it under Clubsnap banner? Win-win situation.

I'm not really sure guyz, but den again, I feel dat why most ppl would rather give Singapore a pass or treat our country like a 'stopover' kind of thing is prolly due to the fact that we do not give our own ppl the focus.

Asian cities, like Japan, Korea. I personally believe the reason why backpackers look forward to these 2 places is not only because of the appeal of the country (nature and stuff like this) but also the people.

Ever notice what those tour guide books on Japan and Korea usually emphasise on? "The Japanese are an intriuging race/people... yadda-yadda-yadda."

 

[madmacs]

Well my part of idea is actually not to stop at those usual, prominent sites like Dholby Ghaut, Orchard, Somerset, City Hall, etc. But a single stop at every station with approximately 10 people covering every station for a radius of 10 to 20km around the station. For larger, touristy places, we'll probably need like 20 people covering that area.

er...10-20km radius like cover whole island. esp if you start from toa payoh ;p

 

[dolpjki]

er...10-20km radius like cover whole island. esp if you start from toa payoh ;p

Yeah :sweat: I think Singapore's less than 50km in length leh... :bsmilie:
You may need only a Jurong East mrt station and Kallang mrt station to cover the whole island :think:

 

[jsbn]

Erm... Ok den, how abt 5km radius around the station? Wide enuff?

 

[ortega]

insteresting idea

but instead of a book (which costs a bomb)
a website to start and who knows
someone might notice it and sponsor the book

Also with a website, it will no longer be just an idea
you will have something to show the sponsor.

 

[caseytan]

Erm... Ok den, how abt 5km radius around the station? Wide enuff?

still too wide, how bout 5-10 mins walking distance around the MRT stations.

 

[jsbn]

Hmm.... Or how abt a PDF file that covers only SOME of the best shots at some of the stations. Kind of like a sneak preview thing of how it'll look like.

Through da PDF we can:
1) Generate interest
2) Gauge responses frm the relevant authorities to see their level of interest
3) Gauge responses frm the general public
4) Damage Control

I put in 'damage control' as a factor in case the response very cold and the entire thing have to be called off...

 

[jsbn]

If anyone has any ideas, juz put it down here.

Of cos, dunch go and run off and start the idea urself cos this involves the entire clubsnap.

Da Big Boss had contacted me, hopefully it'll come true! Welcome more suggestions!

 

[oracle0711]

jsbn, i quite like the idea. Pictures that focus on lifestyle activities in Singapore would surfaced differently from the typical Singapore cityscapes pictures that are being published in most pictoral books on sale in Times, MPH, Kinokuniya, etc.

Some interesting ones would be going to work, school, market, church, temples, etc... it could pictures of individual (close-up) or even a whole group of people. Better still if we can capture pictures reflecting the multi-culture and vibrant lifestyle of Singapore.

Just some thoughts It's a good project and better still if sponsorship can be given to print the book and put it on sale everywhere to promote Singapore in a different perspective - help Singapore photographers to gain recognition too.

 

[nightwolf75]

insteresting idea

but instead of a book (which costs a bomb)
a website to start and who knows
someone might notice it and sponsor the book

Also with a website, it will no longer be just an idea
you will have something to show the sponsor.

website, i think i shld have some space left my own website. if need be can always upload onto mine, if u all dun mind sharing my URL... :sweat:

 

[enya]

Really interesting idea. i am new to this site so i won't attempt to offer any outrageous idea but since we are on the MRt route, perhaps we can focus on what makes each station distinct. It'd be quite the challenge as most neighbourhoods are mirror reflection of one another but we might still be able to find something that is unique to each station? Hmph...

 

[jsbn]

Called up Darren earlier, apparently da CS bosses are pretty keen on it oso.

Glad to see da response oso. Come! Come! More contributions plz! All are welcomed, even outrageous ones! After all, I felt my idea was pretty outrageous oso... :bsmilie:

Sponsorship dis kind of thing can hope for. If got sponsorship den lagi best. ehehehe... But den have to see how CS handles it. I'm pretty lousy at such things, negotitating and stuff like dis.