THE WORLD ACCORDING TO ROGER BALLEN

Roger Ballen is one of the most influential and important photographic artists of the 21^st century. His distinctive, strange, and sometimes disturbing images confront us with aspects of the human condition that we would prefer to keep hidden.
 
Although he started out with a documentary approach his work has evolved in recent years into more complex and imaginative images. The line between reality and fantasy becomes increasingly blurred. Ballen builds elaborate sets, creating a theatre in which animals, humans, dolls, drawings, and objects play a leading role, culminating in what is commonly referred to as the Ballenesque aesthetic.
 
The World According to Roger Ballen is an invitation to come with him on a journey, through photo and film, into your own mind – as he explores the deeper recesses of his own.

This exhibition has been curated as a collaboration between Roger Ballen and the team at Vestfossen Kunstlaboratorium. A selection of 55 photographs, 6 films, and a projection, have been made for the Exhibition Hall. Welcome!
 

'As a photographer and artist, my work goes beyond conventional
photography; it seeks to explore the depths of the human psyche.’

– Roger Ballen
 

Roger Ballen, who has a Ph. D. in Geology, was born in New York in 1950. He has lived and worked in South Africa since the 1970s. His photographs are collected by some of the most prestigious institutions in the world and he has won numerous awards in both photography and filmmaking.