What is a portrait photo? A moment fixed in time, compact with body and soul. And what’s a dance? A moment in movement, there and gone again. Benji Reid was a dancer and choreographer, then a photographer: now he describes himself as a “choreo-photolist”, twining photography, choreography and theatre into a singular artform.
Reid’s one-of-a-kind show won plaudits at the Manchester International Festival in 2023. Following an international tour, it comes to London, but feels unexpectedly cool and muted. The stage looks like a photographer’s studio: screens, lights and ladder. Three dancers move through a succession of set ups which Reid shoots, the images appearing live on the screens. The very first shot is Slate Hemedi’s hand, close enough to see the skin’s grooves and grain. Reid makes the body seem both abstract and intimate.
