“There’s no doubt that the whole visual world is totally oversaturated with imagery. I know a lot of people who do AI art. I see it on Instagram or Facebook and some of the images have stuck in my head,” says Roger Ballen, an American artist who lives in Johannesburg, South Africa. “So, I think […]
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Darkness to burn: The spectral force of Ballen in Joburg, Mail & Guardian
The world-renowned photographer’s new retrospective show at the Standard Bank Gallery, In Roger Ballen’s Johannesburg, curated by Dr Same Mdluli, is an astonishing trip through some of his best work since 1994, when he began to make images in the metropolis.
“Disturbingly Beautiful” Roger Ballen exhibition hits the streets of Jozi just in time for Halloween – IOL Entertainment, South Africa
Around the gallery, there are these strange, captivating, surreal or sinister, depending on how you view it, mind-blowing visuals encapsulating Ballen’s photographic relationship with Joburg, dating back over four decades ago.
Roger Ballen – boyhood – PhotoBook Journal
At times some of us feel a certain nostalgia and want to go back to our youth. We long to be boys or girls again, thinking that things were simpler in our youth. We imagine that life was more innocent and more harmonious than what we now face as adults. It is easy to forget […]
Finding the decisive moment in Roger Ballen’s shadow chamber – News24
Ballen’s move from documentary (though always artfully composed) photography into art photography, and photos in which he stages his subjects within a constructed environment, may seem to reject the “decisive moment” seized from a living trajectory, but it’s there. He may put a great deal of work into his environments, after much finding, but they […]
Roger Ballen launches “Ballenesque” – The Sunday Times, 16 August 2022
Based on an entirely new appraisal of Ballen’s archive, one that looks beyond his monographic projects for the first time, Ballenesque takes the reader on a visual chronological tour of the photographer’s entire oeuvre, including the iconic images and previously unpublished works. At the heart of the book is Ballen’s own exploration of his style […]
The Theatre of Apparitions – Fotografare Magazine
A journey into the mind with Roger Ballen, through photography, poetry, books, films, fairy tales, archetypes and the uniqueness certified by NFT, on show in Italy at Senigallia City of Photography 2022 and at the 59th Venice Art Biennale.
Roger Ballen at the Venice Biennale Arte 2022
Roger Ballen was chosen as one of the three artists to represent South Africa at the 59th Biennale Arte 2022 titled “The Milk of Dreams”.
Venice Biennale : Roger Ballen : The Theatre of Apparitions – THE EYE OF PHOTOGRAPHY
When Roger Ballen was selected to represent South Africa at the Venice Biennale, we immediately realised that his photographs from ‘The Theatre of Apparitions’ would be the best choice. This series was created during an eight-year period from 2005 to 2013.It was called a Theatre as a lot of Ballen’s work can be seen as […]
Humour, violence and horror in animal-themed photography of Roger Ballen featuring the 12 beasts of the Chinese zodiac and more -South China Morning Post
South Africa-based Roger Ballen calls his photography psychological art, and in a Hong Kong show it is contrasted with the abstract art of Andrew Luk