Motus

The Body as Duration

Not the frozen instant, but what a body leaves behind when it moves.

Motus works against photography's oldest promise — that it stops time. Using long exposures, intentional camera movement, and controlled studio light, the series records the body not as a frozen moment but as an accumulation: a gesture that starts in one position and ends in another, with everything in between still present in the frame.The reference is historical. In the 1880s, Étienne-Jules Marey photographed human and animal movement through chronophotography — multiple exposures on a single plate, producing images in which a figure could be seen walking, running, falling all at once. Eadweard Muybridge used the same period to break motion into discrete frames. Motus inherits their curiosity about what photography can reveal about movement, but reverses their method: instead of dissecting motion into stills, it compresses motion into a single durational exposure. The gesture stays whole; only its sharpness dissolves.The series also engages with more recent work. Hiroshi Sugimoto's long-exposure seascapes and theatre interiors demonstrated that time, not light, could be the real subject of a photograph. Idris Khan's superimposed repetitions of canonical images showed that accumulation itself can carry emotional weight. Motus sits in that conversation, but its subject is biological rather than architectural: the body's specific rhythm — how long it takes to turn, how weight shifts through a step, how a gesture decays.Each image is made in-camera. No layers are combined in post-production; the blur, the multiplication, the trailing light are captured in a single exposure. This constraint matters. It means the photograph is not an illustration of movement but a recording of it — a physical trace, like a brushstroke, of a body's passage through time in front of the lens.What the series ultimately argues is philosophical. A body is never only at one place at one moment. It is always arriving, departing, remembering the posture it just held. Conventional portraiture suppresses this fact; Motus makes it the subject. The figures in these images are not ghosts or abstractions. They are bodies photographed honestly, in the durational register in which bodies actually exist.

Selected Works

In Haste

A dancer in a flowing dress poses gracefully in a bustling market, surrounded by people and street vendors, captured in black and white.

Stills

FLUX

A nude figure gracefully strides across a textured white backdrop, emphasizing form and movement in stark black and white.
Black and white composition featuring a nude figure seated cross-legged, arms raised, against wrinkled white backdrop.
Abstract exploration of the human form, featuring a blurred nude figure against a dark background, highlighting soft contours and movement.
A blurred figure with flowing hair in motion against a dark backdrop, capturing the essence of dynamic movement and fluidity.
Abstract portrayal of a nude form with flowing hair, captured in soft, blurred tones against a dark background.
Softly blurred figure in motion against a dark background, highlighting skin tones and flowing hair, evoking a sense of fluidity and intimacy.
Blurred figure with flowing hair, partially nude, against a dark background, conveying motion and fluidity in form.
Soft-focus nude form with flowing hair against a dark background, highlighting curves and gentle contours. Subtle play of light and shadow.
Abstract nude figure partially in motion, against a dark background, highlighting soft contours and flowing hair.
Soft, blurred contours of a nude torso against a dark background, with flowing hair suggesting movement and fluidity.
Soft focus on a woman's torso with flowing hair, highlighting gentle curves against a deep black background. Warm tones create a serene ambiance.
Softly blurred nude figure with flowing hair against a dark background, evoking a sense of movement and intimacy.
Silhouetted figure in motion against a warm orange light, capturing a sense of freedom and artistry in a dark setting.
Silhouette of a woman dancing against a dark background, illuminated by a warm orange glow, highlighting flowing hair and graceful movement.
A figure with red hair stands against a black wall, arms raised, captured with motion blur to convey energy and movement.
A nude model with vibrant red hair poses against a black backdrop, arms raised, creating a sense of motion and dynamic expression.
A blurred figure with red hair poses against a dark background, arms raised, conveying a dynamic and expressive moment in nude art.
Nude figure with long red hair, captured in motion against a dark backdrop, emphasizing fluidity and form. Reflective surface below.
Bare legs stand on a reflective surface, with the background illuminated by muted tones, emphasizing form and texture.
Blurred figure with red hair, striking a pose against a dark background, emphasizing movement and sensuality in nude art.

Technique & Editions

Motus is made exclusively through in-camera long exposure, with the figure moving through a choreographed sequence within a single frame. No multi-exposure or post-production blending is used; the movement in the image is the movement that happened in front of the camera.The series was shown in Bodies in Movement, Loosen Art Gallery, Rome, 2019. Archival pigment prints are released in limited editions of 5 + 1 Artist Proof on Hahnemühle papers. Selected works are available through Artsper, Saatchi Art, and Artmajeur. For direct inquiries: print@burakbulut.org.