The Kuwait Times, Gizmodo and Engadget have reported that the government of Kuwait has outlawed DSLR cameras.
“The Ministries of Information, Social Affairs and Finance (hello, 1984!) have collectively decided to ban the use of the chunky shooters in public places, except where it can be shown that it’s for journalistic purposes.” – Engadget.
—UPDATE—-
The Kuwait Times Newspaper has rescinded this story. Go figure.
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This ban reportedly affects tourists too, so if you’re headed to Kuwait for some relaxing time over the holidays, come prepared. I understand that compacts and camera phones have not been banned, so you can still get the shot…-ish.
I’ve read all I can on the topic this morning, but for the life of me I’m having trouble understanding. Why they hatin’ on the interchangable lenses? What about micro 4/3? Can anybody out there shed some light on this bizarre state of affairs for me?
It’s a RUMOR!!
Actually photography in Kuwait is a very popular hobby practiced by the people there from a very long time. So I think some photographer from “Kuwait Times” might have had some bad personal experience with the security, so he made this up.
As for taking pictures of the public in Middle East countries, I saw the same thing happen in many other countries. I lived in the States for 8 years, and I’ve been to many European countries too. Honestly saying, some people don’t feel comfortable when taking pictures of them there as well. Same thing happens when you take a picture of a governmental property, you’ll have someone coming to you.
I feel some comments are exaggerating regarding photography in the Middle East.
I am living in Bahrain therefore I don’t know what is going on in Kuwait, but Muslims generally are very strict on people taking photos of their mother/wives/sisters/daughters.
Hi – I’m not sure if someone has pointed it out yet, but in fundamentalist Islam capturing the likeness or something on heaven or on earth (and by Islamitic law – we are from God) is considered sacreligious (spelling? An RC’s?) and thus frowned upon. In this case, especially that of the face.
I was in Libya last year, where the Islam religion is waaaaaaay more relaxed than in Kuwait and the Middle East (even with Kadaffi in charge 🙂 ), and although nobody minds a pic, all woman you photograph will turn their backs and refused to show their faces, and it’s covered by a veil anyways. It is considered very bad form to photograph women, and men, especially when in their ceremonial garb, don’t like it either. They respond very well to being asked though (the men). I was warned by the tour-guide that photographing woman might get me beat up by a husband and his mates 🙂 I ended up shooting a documentary on doors!
I would imagine the Kuwait government (if indeed this rumour is true) is more concerned with public propriety than any sinsiter cloak-and-dagger stuff. Now why they would have DSLR’s banned, and not other types of camera gear, I’m not sure. I however know that in general Middle-East media has a bit of an issue with journo’s taking pics of families and people there and publishing it elsewhere, for infidels (that’s you and I who are non-Muslim) to gaze at, when it’s clearly considered improper in their culture.
Anyways, my 2 cents worth.
I’m a photojournalist in the Middle East and I made a few calls – so far there’s no real evidence of what prompted this but I’ve been in the region for close to 10 years now and when random decisions like these come to light it’s usually for something really really awkward. For instance in Saudi Arabia four wheel dirt bikes are technically banned but if you buy a new one you can get a license for it. The issue at stake here is that a few years ago a high ranking saudi prince was hopped up on whatever assortment of drugs (usually cocaine and alcohol), went into a fit and drove his four wheeler into a wall by accident and died from the his injuries. So if this follows the same kind of logic then I bet some Kuwaity nobility had her picture taken by someone and then claimed she didnt give them permission so now all SLR’s are banned. Furthermore some people have commented about the stealing souls thing – that is true but not necessarily relevant for Kuwait since it is the most liberal and progressive nation in the region. That logic is still pervasive in Saudi, hell I’ve been to jail at least 3 times being accused for “stealing virtues of women using electronics” now as nefarious as that sounds it was for street photography of women in their abaya’s (full body coverings). This would never happen in Kuwait.
Funny how these laws pop up in the fanatical religious countries.
I received lots of irritating looks when shooting in Turkey (which I consider Islamic-Light) and after
snapping a shot of a farmer on a horse drawn wagon coming down the street which I thought would be a unique & characteristic image depicting the lifestyle & charm of that area – I heard a crack behind me as the farmer tried to hit me with his whip as he passed by.I took the photo as a wide angle shot and he was at least 60 yards away from me so there was not a lot of detail of his face.
Many places in Europe have areas that they dont allow tripods and I will share this useful tip – take the ballhead off the tripod and set the flat bottom on the floor or table and use a remote shutter or timer.
Carlton
You would receive much the same looks even in Europe, just in different situations. As for Prague, you can play with street photography in the center (crowds of tourists everywhere), but in most other places you’ll get an angry look (or worse) if photographing without asking for consent first.
Had the farmer wanted to hit you, he would have done that 🙂