Weekend Breakfast with Refiloe Mpakanyane: Profiling Artist, Roger Ballen

Profiling Artist, Roger Ballen

21 February 2021 10:07 AM

Artist, Roger Ballen is a globally renowned artist with photography work spanning 54 years. Roger born in America has lived and worked in Johannesburg, for the past three decades, is one of the most influential and important photographic artists of the 21st century. His strange and extreme works confront the viewer and challenge them to come with him on a journey into their own minds as he explores the deeper recesses of his own.

Puppy Between Feet, 1999 Puppy Between Feet, 1999

His black-and-white photography has shifted from an early focus on documentary and photojournalism—such as the 1994 series “Platteland: Images From Rural South Africa,” which depicted the poor and socially outcast—to staged, painterly compositions of private, surreal worlds, many without human subjects. In the 2009 series “Boarding House,” animals, wall drawings, and objects like furniture and electric wire (a reappearing visual) combine to yield ambiguous and discomfiting images, recalling artists such as Diane Arbus.

To listen to the podcast: https://www.702.co.za/podcasts/444/the-best-of-weekend-breakfast/487874/profiling-artist-roger-ballen

Share:
Comments are closed.