23 Photos + Video Of Lumiere London Lights Festival 2016 Review

Take a stroll through the London Lights Festival from 2016, without having to endure a cold January night.

The electricity bill would make you cry.

Still, I wish Garden of Light by TINT in Leicester Square was a permanent light installation. It brightened the place up. Literally.

This was part of Lumiere London Light Festival 2016; a four day event which showcased some terrific light installations during (very) cold January nights in the city. Similar to the Winter Lights Festival at Canary Wharf, only on a much larger scale. Below is a short video of my favourite light installations from Lumiere London 2016.

Of course, I couldn’t walk around Lumiere London without taking photos!

Les Lumineoles by Porte par le vent was fascinating to watch; these glowing and floating sea creatures ‘swimming’ in the dark night.

Sanctuary by Sarah Blood looked magnificent, colouring the naked trees with vivid blue neon lights.

The video of 1.8 London by Janet Echelman/Studio Echelman does the light installation justice more than a photograph ever could. Viewers wait patiently for it to change colour which seems like an eternity. And then suddenly it transforms colour in the blink of an eye.

And while IFO (Identified Flying Object) by Jacques Rival is a permanent feature outside of Kings Cross station, it was the first time I had seen it in full glow and colour. Inside the ‘bird cage’ there is a swing.

The light installation I was most looking forward to seeing was Aquarium by Benedetto Bufalino & Benoit Deseille, a classic red telephone box tuned in a giant fish tank.

It was bu-sy. So busy, they had to board Aquarium due to health and safety. This is the view I got the second night I returned hoping to catch a glimpse…

I also saw Lightbench by Bernd Spiecker for LBO-Lichtbankobjekte, a park bench which replaced the wooden beams for bright blue neon beams. I didn’t take a picture of it as it was crowded and people sat on it, but it looked great nonetheless.

My film making is still very much a work in progress. But I enjoyed filming London Tribes so much I’m keen to explore film making even more in 2016 – watch this space. My new camera, Sony A5000 (which I can’t recommend enough) has an image stabiliser in the lens which means I don’t have to pull out and set up my tripod every time I want to film something.

Overall, Lumiere London 2016 was a success. Like any big event, it’s going to be packed and there were times I felt like I was trapped.

What was your favourite light installation from Lumiere London 2016? Tell me in the comments section below!