“Perfect Shot,” is a six-hour durational performance that challenges the boundary between creativity and the efforts put into making a single image. Held at Studio One Toi Tū in Ponsonby, Tamaki Makaurau Auckland, the piece immerses audiences in a setting where camera clicks are replaced by gunfire, a jarring reminder of the intense vulnerability and pressure inherent to the act of being photographed.

Upon entry, participants sign a lengthy DNA agreement and choose between identifying as a photographer or model. Divided into groups, each role receives unique instructions, guiding them through their own interactions within the performance and the space. The performance unfolds in a stark, enclosed room, lit by a single source on the model—dressed simply in black—while Denis, constantly moving, captures each shot in sync with the model’s shifting poses.

Each “shot” is marked by the visceral sound of a gun firing, challenging both performer and audience endurance and evoking the pressures, demands, and exposures associated with the fashion and media industries.

“Perfect Shot” probes the commodification of beauty, the mental and physical toll behind each captured image, and the complex power dynamics of the photographic gaze. This evocative performance invites viewers to confront these themes and consider their own gaze and complicity in a world where visual aesthetics are rigorously constructed and consumed.