The Olympus OM-D Photography Playground has made a welcome return to the Opernwerkst ätten in Berlin.
Now in its second year the Photography Playground consists of a series of 9 installations from international artists that are intended to be both visually striking and interactive.
My favourite installations were those that I thought encouraged the highest level of involvement from the visitors.
My first encounter with the work of Argentine artist Leandro Erlich was a write-up in the Evening Standard on his work in Dalston commissioned by the Barbican.
His work, Berlin Façade, is ideally suited to the Photography Playground and visitors were thrilled with the chance to seemingly defy gravity.
Photo taken with Olympus EM-10
Photo taken with Olympus EM-10
The most fascinating work for me though was 3Destruct by ANTIVJ, an art collective comprised of Yannick Jacquet, Jeremie Peeters and Thomas Vaquié.
The installation uses strobe lighting to create an environment that is constantly changing.
Integral to the Photography Playground concept is the availability of cameras from the Olympus OM-D range for visitors to record their experiences. The cameras have been moved to the ground floor in front of the entrance making this option much more obvious to the casual visitor.
The cameras are loaned out free of charge but those visitors who do not carry a National Identity card will need to hand over their Passport. The memory card is yours to take away when you hand the camera back.
Last year, I didn’t have the proper identification so I missed out on the opportunity to try out a camera so this year I was determined to give it a go.
Along with details of the artists and a short explanation of the work there are suggested settings for the Olympus camera in front of each of the installations.
I got to walk around with an EM-10 and was impressed with the camera and the photos I was able to produce in the short time I had it.
Olympus OM-D EM-10
Photo taken with Olympus EM-10
Photo taken with Olympus EM-10
Photo taken with Olympus EM-10
I would be keen to try out the camera again and would particularly like to explore its WIFI capability, as this could be a great everyday camera for Intstagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc.
The Olympus OM-D Photography Playground Berlin is open daily 11:00 to 19:00 and entrance is free. You can find more details at the Photography Playground website.
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