World of the otter – video workshop

Otterdam, the floating garden in the main pond of the Amstelpark, attracts many beings. Watergardening brings you in close contact with a highly varied community of creatures above and below the water surface.

The world underwater is mysteriously hidden behind the reflective surface of the large pond, but working in the water you encounter this world physically. The massive carp are quite imposing, when you enter their realm it feels like they are in charge. Sholes of tiny fish drift by like nervous clouds. Dragon flies rest on the tips of the plants that float, making it a perfect vantage point for these hunters. When I tie a plant into place a tiny frog swims by, or a spider runs across the water surface, these little floating islands of vegetation are its home and with it live several kinds of caterpillars that eat the crunchy leaves of the irises.

Workshop:

Whenever I finish the work I can’t resist capturing this world, and today a small group of participants are joining me in exploring this world through video.

We have three set-ups to test:

• a Wolfgang GA300 action camera, with underwater casing
• a Montzys flexibel endoscope / HD inspection camera (that fits to a smartphone)
• a Phreeze waterproof smartphone pouch

To avoid just an instrumental interaction with this world, we first take 20min to reflect on our relationship with water. Since participants are from a wide range of backgrounds this gives us a rich tapestry of histories, relations, impressions, and it is nice to share how this submerged world speaks to each of us.

Each participant chooses a set-up to test and we spend an hour and a half testing various methods and locations.

The Wolfgang action camera feels solid, but has a fish-eye lens. The smartphone has way more advanced image software, which makes its footage look more colorful and adjusts better to darkness and brightness. The endoscope can reach into tiny places and it has a light, but its image quality is much lower than the other two.

So each tool has advantages and drawbacks, personally I prefer the smartphone option, because you have that with you anyway, and this kind of underwater pouch works really quite well; the images remain clear and touchscreen still works.