Roger Ballen

Roger Ballen (1950) is one of the most important photographers of his generation. He was born in New York but has been living and working in South Africa for over 30 years. Over the past decades, his distinctive style of photography has evolved using a simple square format in stark and beautiful black and white. In his earlier works, his connection to the tradition of documentary photography is clear but through the 1990s he developed a style he describes as ‘ballenesque’. In 2009, he presented his work for the first time in Ljubljana at Galerija Fotografija with the world premiere of Boarding House and Retrospective 1982–2004 in Jakopič Gallery and then twice more, in 2019 at our venue with an exhibition of photographs from the series The Theatre of Apparitions, and in 2021 at the Jakopič Gallery with the exhibition The World according to Roger Ballen. He was also one of the 25 exhibiting artists at our recent exhibition celebrating 20 years of Galerija Fotografija.

In his recent series, he has employed drawings, painting, collage and sculptural techniques to create elaborate sets. Ballen has invented a new hybrid aesthetic in these works but one still rooted firmly in photography. Presented at Photo Basel 2026 are his works from the series The Theatre of Apparitions, also published by Thames & Hudson in book form (2016). With the same series, Ballen presented the Republic of South Africa at the 2022 Venice Biennale titled The Milk of Dreams.

In a departure from his existing oeuvre, intricately layered images occupy a space between painting, drawing and photography linking image-making and theatrical performance. His other publications include Ballenesque, Roger Ballen: A Retrospective (2017), The World According to Roger Ballen (2019), Roger the Rat (2020), Ballenesque: Roger Ballen, A Retrospective (2022), Hungry Ghosts (2024) and Spirits and Spaces (2025), which showcases the artist’s photographic work in colour, yet grounded in the chaotic, absurd psychological space of the Ballenesque.

Publications:

Roger Ballen / The World According to Roger Ballen