The Kapitan Keling Mosque

The Kapitan Keling Mosque boasts its long history spanning more than 200 years. Located at the intersection between Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling (formerly known as Pitt Street) and Lebuh Buckingham, it sits strategically at the heart of the heritage enclave of George Town and has been the spiritual and community congregational point for the city’s Muslim community for two centuries. The mosque has been recognised by UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site as one of the heritage buildings that needs to be preserved.

I am pleased to share with you this mosque’s history in brief.

The majestic mosque was first erected by the troops of the British East India Company who were of Muslim religion when they arrived on the island near the end of the 18th century. That was soon after Francis Light took formal possession of the island from the Sultan of Kedah in 1786.  The troops of Indian Muslims were said to be led by an East India Company major named Nador Khan who cleared a piece of land to erect a small Chulier mosque besides setting up their burial ground.

The predecessor of the present Kapitan Keling Mosque was merely an attap-roofed structure. By 1798, the Chulier mosque had already appeared on the local map. Its first Imam or religious teacher was one Ustaz Mohamed Haniffa who died in 1213 Hijrah (around 1798 or 1799).

In 1801 Sir George Leith, who was then Lieutenant Governor of Penang, appointed a prominent Indian Muslim leader, Cauder Mohudeen, as Captain of the South Indian “Keling” community.  He granted a piece of land to build a mosque on the south side of Malabar Street (Chulia Street). Cauder Mohudeen (born c. 1759) was a ship mandoor or foreman from Porto Novo, which the Tamils called Paringgipettai and the Muslims Mahmudbandar, about 50 kilometres south of Pondicherry in India.

As the trade and population of the Settlement increased, attracting many Mohammedan traders and mariners it became necessary to erect a more permanent building and to provide a larger burial ground. Cauder Mohuddeen, a wealthy Mohammedan Keling, took the initiative by collecting subscriptions to build the present mosque. With the authorization from the government and the Indian Muslim community, Cauder Mohudeen brought builders and stones (or bricks) from India to erect the brick mosque.

What the mosque looked like in the olden days - undated picture. Photo credit: kapitankelingmosque.com

Thanks to his great contribution and selfless effort Cauder Mohuddeen as The Kapitan (Captain in English) Keling was thus regarded as the founder of the mosque. He died in 1834 leaving behind an invaluable legacy that stands strong until today and has been serving countless fellow muslims.

The Kapitan Keling Mosque went through several stages of development. From 1803 the year a brick mosque was completed the Kapitan Keling Mosque was skillfully extended in 1910 with some parts of the original mosque walls were retained within the larger building; the original minarets can still be identified. The spectacular new look of the mosque could be described as Moghul or ‘Indo-Saracenic’, with a fancy roof of domes and turrets, and the walls elaborately stuccoed and coloured to simulate the Moghul monuments of India, which employed different coloured stone and marble. The architect for this project then was a Malacca-born Eurasian of German descent, Henry Alfred Neubronner.  The building of the minaret in 1916 marked the completion of this phase of expansion.

The shophouses immediately to the south of the minaret were cleared soon afterwards so that the mosque could be fully viewed from Pitt Street (now Jalan Kapitan Keling). Its minaret became the most prominent landmark in the neighbourhood. In the 1920s, improvements were made to the ablution areas with modern plumbing and reinforced concrete coverings. In the 1930s the Kapitan Keling Mosque was again expanded and assumed its present form. A somewhat simpler and more weatherproof hip roof was added and a perimeter wall was built.

Below are the photos of the mosque in its present form taken during the last Chinese New Year holiday.

I welcome any comment and criticism with open arms either about the pictures or the history on the Kapitan Keling Mosque.

You can also view the slideshow of the Kapitan Keling Mosque pictures here.

The Kapitan Keling Mosque, Penang

The Kapitan Keling Mosque, Penang

The Kapitan Keling Mosque, Penang

The Kapitan Keling Mosque, Penang

The Kapitan Keling Mosque, Penang

The Kapitan Keling Mosque, Penang

The Kapitan Keling Mosque, Penang

Composition Guide #7 | Vary Your Camera Angle

A beginner in photography usually tends to shoot almost everything at eye-level. It is only natural since we tend to take pictures while standing most of the time and the camera is placed at our eye-level when we peek at its viewfinder. The resulting pictures, though, may look unexciting and familiar.  This is because it is at this angle we normally view the world.

Simply changing the camera angle we can introduce a different perspective, sometimes a unique angle and a fresh view that can make a world of difference in the impact of our shots.

How to change the camera angle to the level other than eye-level can be as easy as lying low on the ground or climbing up a flight of steps. However, an unusual camera angle can imply various meanings that affect how a viewer interprets the shot. It also has a direct effect on compositional perspective.

Shooting lower than eye-level will make everything seem larger in size. The viewpoint seems to be coming from someone small in stature  that’s why it is normally called ant’s eye view. In order to get that ant’s eye view you can simply lie on the ground or adjust your tripod to the lowest level if the camera is tripod-mounted.

Penang City Council Building

I chose an angle lower than eye level to shoot this majestic colonial building and tilted my camera upwards to make it look more dominant and perhaps larger. The passing motorbike was included to give a sense of scale.

My daughter Aishah while she was 2 years old

When photographing kids always shoot at their eye level. By doing that they will respond better to you because you are at their eye level instead of looking up at you.

A lotus bloom

Sometimes, when a subject is surrounded by distracting elements which cannot be physically removed from the scene, shooting it at low angle is a good trick to keep the subject in the shot while keeping those distractions out of the frame.

Conversely shooting higher than your eye-level gives the opposite impression that the photographer appears to be very tall, while everything around is smaller or shorter than normal. This elevated angle can be achieved by using a stepping stool, walking up a flight of stairs, or shooting from a second-storey window.

Subjects taken from a high camera angle can appear smaller, and this can be used to convey the impression of insignificance or weakness. This illusion of shrunken size is even more dramatic when the subject is known to be large. From a high angle, houses, boats, and cars can look like toys, and people may look like lilliputians.

As with unusual camera angles, a high-angled shot can provide a fresh take on an ordinary scene. Shooting at a high camera angle can also get rid of distracting elements so you can focus entirely on the subject. On the other hand an extreme high camera angle is the bird’s eye view. As the term suggests, the viewpoint is as if it is coming from a bird flying high up in the air. Aerial shots of landscapes are perfect examples of this camera angle. You can also get these kinds of shots from atop a tall building and shooting downwards at the ground-level, or if you are on top of a mountain with the scenery down below.

View from the peak of Genting Highland (about 2000m from sea level)

Shopping frenzy

I shot this at a higher level to show the pattern formed by colourful clothes on sale and the frenetic activities of shopping. I wouldn’t be able to present this scene had I shot it at eye-level.

Tea plantation in Cameron Highlands

I preferred to shoot this vast landscape of tea plantation at higher level to emphasize its vastness. 

A blue bow

You can also get an overhead view or top view of your subject by standing higher than your subject and shooting downwards just like what I did when shooting the blue fishing boat above and the fish silhouette in the picture below.

Fish silhouette

Next time you go out shooting, remember to vary your camera angle and don’t only shoot everything at your eye level.

You may want to read my previous articles on composition as listed below:

• Composition Guide #1: Figure and Ground Flip
• Composition Guide #2: Reflections
• Composition Guide #3: Framing
• Composition Guide #4: Fully Symmetrical Composition
• Composition Guide #5: Rule of Thirds
• Composition Guide #6 | A Sense of Scale

Please also check out the top ten tips on how to take better pictures.

Happy shooting!

My best 12 pictures of 2011

I would like to wish all of you a Happy New Year. A year has just gone by and it is customary for me to reflect back on what I achieved and shot last year. I am pleased to share with you my best 12 photos that I photographed last year.  They are solely based on my personal preferance by taking into consideration technical, aesthetic and artistic factors. It was pretty difficult to decide but I tried to be less personal with them in choosing which one to be included as my best 12.  They are arranged in a chronological order as below.

1. Waterfall

I love the close-up shot of this waterfall shot as it shows the sheer power of water and by shooting it close-up the viewer won’t be able to guess how high or how short the waterfall is. It just merely shows the almost abstract look of the water cascading on the rocks. This was captured in Sungai Gabai Waterfall, Hulu Langat which is approximately 35km (22 miles) from Kuala Lumpur city centre.

2. Adjusting the parachute valve

One of the crew members adjusts the parachute valve of a hot air balloon to ensure it is fully closed to contain enough air before the hot air is pumped in and the giant balloon is erected.  This was captured during the Third Putrajaya International Hot Air Ballon Fiesta held from 17 March to 20 March 2011 in Putrajaya, Malaysia.  It is an annual event held during school holiday and it is normally well received by the local visitors as well as foreign tourists.  It also an event that photographers look forward to every year.  More photos of Third Putrajaya International Hot Air Ballon Fiesta can be seen here.

3. Fishing on Tanjung Dawai pier

I found some anglers enjoying fishing on the pier at Tanjung Dawai beach in Kedah during sunset. And I just clicked away. This, I think, is the best shot.

4. Kuala Besut fishing village

Kuala Besut fishing village is bathed in golden low-angled light in the early morning. When shooting landscape or seascape what matters most is the quality of light, once found  only then will I think of the composition.

5. Arranging the merchandise

This lady mans one of the shop lots in a shopping arcade in Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, Kuala Lumpur.

6. The Seberang Jerteh Timber Mosque

The Seberang Jerteh Timber Mosque is the new landmark of my home village, Kampung Seberang Jerteh.  It is made of 80% chengal wood and its architecture was inspired by the Terengganu’s traditional Malay/Muslim architecture.

7. It's raining

I just love this contrasty scene of yellow stripes against dark grey asphalt and a blue umbrella. Taking photos after rain or during light rain has its advantage as your picture would look more contrasty. This is because the dust, smog or haze in the air have been washed away by rain.

8. A florist adjusting her flowers

I am a sucker for vibrant colours.  When I stumbled upon these colourful flowers which were neatly arranged I just needed a human element to complete the picture.  All of a sudden a lady manning the flower shop came out and adjusted the flowers on display. I quickly took a couple of shots and this is the chosen shot.

9. Windows

I found windows of Hotel Malaya fascinating as they formed an interesting pattern besides its classic architecture.

10. Shopping for headscarf and veil

Ladies are busy shopping for headscarf and veil  at one of the shops in Kuala Lumpur while in the foreground are mannequins’ head dressed in headscarf to display its merchandise.

11. Admiring

I couldn’t help feeling amused when seeing this guy stopping and gazing at the billboard as if he was admiring a painting by a famous artist in an art gallery.  I photographed this scene to immortalise the amusing scene.

12. Petronas Twin Towers

It has been some time since I last captured the majestic Petronas Twin Towers so when I had the opportunity to do so I grabbed it and this shot I think is the best one.

Hope you enjoy the pictures.  Comments and criticisms are welcomed with open arms.