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.

In her photographic work, Senta Simond examines the human connection that exists between photographer and sitter, identifying the nuance of facial expressions and bodily gestures and capturing them on camera.
“RECORD”, a new video piece, amplifies this interpersonal study to powerful effect. Filmed, slowed dramatically down, and projected in ultra-large-format, the artist’s interaction with her subjects becomes at once compelling and uncomfortable to watch.

For the viewer, every tremor of a muscle is magnified, every emotional response heightened. The soundtrack – a dissonant, minimalist drone of background music, paired with the booming baritone of the artist’s spoken directions – only serves to compound this unease. Simond is often asked how she directs her subjects. In this work, intimacy and exposure become bedfellows; the viewer is permitted access to the process, experiencing at once everything, and yet nothing at all.