In the body, intuition and instruction can feel like opposing forces. Not least, in front of a camera; while still images are ‘still' by definition, posing requires movement. With this tool in-hand, the artist becomes a kind of choreographer; their subject’s movement, a kind of dance.

Rooted in the intersection of movement, instruction and choreography, each of these works takes a unique approach to the body, reframing it as a vehicle for expression within the gallery space.

In unmediated movement, Mel Bles sees freedom, simplicity and universality. For Peckham 24, the artist creates a series of short films which seek to document exactly this; women, who are not dancers, using their bodies to express joy, magic and meaning. “These short films are the start of small conversations between women and myself,” Bles explains.

Free to express themselves however they wish without tools or direction to contaminate their use of the space around them, her subjects are invited to let themselves go, and to find new meaning in that sentiment. In movement, the artist continues, a gesture or a turn can become an instrument of pure pleasure. It is a new language which, permitted by the camera, both artist and subject can learn to speak.