Roger Ballen

Roger Ballen - POLAROID #0301-4

Artist Biography: Roger Ballen (New York, USA, 1950) is unanimously considered one of the essential and most influential photographers of the 21st century. His work has been exhibited worldwide and is part of the permanent collections of institutions such as MOMA, Tate Britain, Centre Georges Pompidou, Maison Européene de la Photographie, and the Musée de la Photographie à Charleroi. The son of a Magnum photo editor, he worked as a geologist and mining consultant before beginning his own photographic career, documenting small towns in rural South Africa and their isolated inhabitants. His images are both powerful social pleas and disturbing psychological studies. His work "Outland" is considered one of the most extraordinary photographic documents of the late 20th century. His recognizable photographic style has evolved from square format and black and white, to color and collaborative projects with other artists. His early work is clearly influenced by documentary photography, but since the early 1990s he has been developing a style that he describes as "documentary fiction". "Roger Ballen in Color" presents his photographs in color after having photographed in B/W for over fifty years. These have been created in Johannesburg since 2018 in an environment that could be described as "Ballenesque". In addition, we present in world premiere his new drawings created during the confinement of COVID-19. Roger was selected to participate in the South African National Pavilion at the 59th Venice Biennale in 2022.