Roger Ballen is an American photographer who is deeply concentrated on human psychology. He is one of the most distinguished and important photographic artists of the 21st century. Ballen’s photography challenges the viewers to have a journey with him in their own minds.
I came across Roger Ballen during my research about the relationship between photography and human psychology, he is utilizing some sort of collage inside his photographs. My practice aligns with his idea about reality as he mentions “Photography has taught me that reality is an impossible concept to comprehend”. Ballenesque is his personalized grotesque method that tries to understand reality throughout the human mind.
An interesting fact about his recent work is that he gets rid of humans in his artwork, you barely see a human face or at least a proper one in his work and this new made-up character “Roger the Rat” is Ballen’s approach to get deep into human behaviour. Roger that rat is a character that does all the human things but in an abnormal inhuman way.
Bellen, Roger. 2022. “Roger Ballen Photography.” Roger Ballen website, Accessed April 19, 2022. https://www.rogerballen.com/