Roger Ballen

BRUTAL, TENDER, HUMAN, ANIMAL showcases the works of Roger Ballen produced from 1983 - 2006, an exploration of the depth and meaning in his practice. Ballens work consists of black and white silver gelatin and carbon ink prints of minority places and people living in the dorp areas of South Africa. The dorps are the main subject of his works. His early pieces begin with documenting the world, taking photographs of people in their homes going about their everyday lives, to a more staged scenario, where he collaborates with his subjects to create his imaginary world.

Ballens imagery intentionally has no depth and is quite flat. This is achieved by using a flash. Using the flash also creates shadow that adds another important element to all of his images. The walls in his photographs are very important and dynamic component in portraying the story of the subjects lives. They are never dead spaces. Whether it is a shadow, existing drawings on the wall or chalk drawings that Ballen has added, they are a response to, or extension of, a particular situation and the physical context.

Ballen's use of the black and white imagery creates a dramatic mood. His pieces can be described as unsettling, raw, brutal and beautiful. The use of repetition and shape has a way of flattening the subjects into the walls. In some instances, the people in his images form a similar shape to a sculpture or image on a wall. This is evident in Ballens' Crawling Man 2002, where a man is on all fours taking on the shape of a metal stand beside him - becoming one with the object.
Challenging the border between human and animal, nature and culture, Ballen forces us to consider the border between the two as well as the excessive pride in all who think we reside above the natural. Ballen considers his work to be about the human condition as a whole, a psychological journey.