The Other Singapore — Italian photographer Luciano Checco’s photo series on the seedy underbelly of Geylang and Little India — has been removed from his Facebook page following the viral popularity it reached yesterday due to various media reports (including us).
Though the images presented a powerful medium to raise awareness about the dark reality faced by many foreign workers and sex workers in Singapore (an issue that certainly needs more domestic and international coverage), organisations such as gender equality advocacy group AWARE and sex workers rights group Project X have criticised the publication of Checco’s photos, raising concerns about violations of privacy and the serious consequences that could follow.
Speaking to Coconuts Singapore, Project X project co-ordinator Vanessa Ho emphasised that the photographs were acquired through unethical means and the spread of publicity would pose a great danger to them from the police, or that their families will find out about their profession.
“I have asked five people featured in the photographs taken by Checco whether they gave explicit consent for their photos to be taken and published — four said no, one said yes,” she mentions. “The one who said yes nonetheless is horrified at the way she was depicted and digitally manipulated in his photos, and I quote, she says ‘Aiyo this picture now cannot sleep’.”
Ho also insists that “a high-wage expat” such as Checco shouldn’t be given the credit and limelight for his images, as this ‘Other Singapore’ is already well known among Singaporeans, and despite what some may say, pictures of Geylang’s red light district have been published before in mainstream media by way of STOMP and The New Paper.
On his side of things, Checco defended his art in an email exchange with Coconuts Singapore. “[It was] never my intention to hurt people,” he said. Having just returned from Europe yesterday, the man was completely overwhelmed by the publicity he’d garnered for his photos. Regarding his project, he maintains that photography is just a hobby, and that he plans to publish a book with his photo collection in another 20 years as a historical depiction of Singapore.
His plan might not jive with Project X, who’ve been advocating for sex workers’ rights here for the past six years.
“It is already unfair that sex workers are treated less than human by some of their clients, by their families and intimate partners, by their friends, and by law enforcers,” Ho asserts. “They are angry because their right to privacy and basic human dignity has been disrespected.”
Checco however did reveal in an interview with Leica that he was assaulted by some transvestites whilst taking these photos. “One night I was a little too brave in using my M9 with the 21 mm Summilux, which entailed getting too close to the subjects. Unfortunately, they heard the noise of the shutter and even more unluckily they were three transvestites in an unfriendly mood, and one of them started beating me up. That night I went back home with broken spectacles and my head bleeding in a few places,” he recalls.
The violence he faced isn’t ideal, but it’s what the sex workers have to resort to after years of hardship out on the streets, says Ho.
“They have no power or right to report to the authorities when injustice has been done to them–whether it be robbery, rape, sexual assault, verbal and physical assault–the police will simply charge them for illegal sex work and soliciting — and let the original perpetrator walk free with impunity”, she remarks. “Thus, upon seeing [his] camera in their work place, the only option left for them to protect themselves is to resort to violence”.
We are awaiting comment from Leica regarding the publication of the photos on their blog.
Editor’s Note: We have removed some Checco’s photos from our previous report out of respect for the subjects’ privacy.
Photo: Blemished Paradise via Flickr
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