Sean Palfrey: Dance

Dance showcases Sean Palfrey’s creative vision in a beautiful suite of images drawn from his photographic archive, each of them accompanied by poetic reflections on the very idea of dance.

What presents itself to our minds when we hear the word “dance”? Movement, music, and rhythm, of course. The jitterbug and the slow waltz. But what if we go beyond the obvious?

Dance, the fourth volume in Sean Palfrey’s photography series, seeks to expand our conception of dance, to see it in the graceful shape of a flower or leaf, in the elegant cursive of a spiral staircase, and in the joyfully uplifted arm of the newly-wed.

Palfrey is a renowned pediatrician and child health advocate who travels the world with his work and for pleasure. His fascination with people, places, and stories informs both his artistic and his professional practice. In Dance, Palfrey has curated a beguiling set of images that riff on movement and stillness, rhythm and flow, and the poetry of the curve. He asks us to consider the form of the ancient, gnarled tree, or the sinuous line of the winding river – these too can be dance.