Publications

Call of the Void (2023)

Roger Ballen. Call of the Void is the eighth in a series of exhibitions at Museum Tinguely under the title Danse macabre with works responding to Jean Tinguely’s late work Mengele Totentanz (Kehrer 2017).

Boyhood: Expanded Edition (2022)

This new and expanded edition of Roger Ballen’s widely acclaimed 1979 photobook Boyhood features new and unpublished images taken by the photographer in the ‘70.

Ballenesque, Roger Ballen: A Retrospective, Paperback Edition (2022)

Now available in paperback, Ballenesque takes readers on a visual, chronological journey through Roger Ballen’s entire oeuvre, including both iconic images and previously unpublished photographs.

Roger the Rat (2020)

In these sixty black-and-white photographs Ballen creates a persona, Roger the Rat. Here, Ballen unveils a selection of uncanny photographs so completely different from his previous work, yet still possessing the unmistakable Ballenesque aesthetic.

The World According to Roger Ballen (2019)

The World According to Roger Ballen, co-authored with Colin Rhodes, looks at Ballen’s career in the wider cultural context beyond photography, including his connections with and collections of Art Brut.

Ballenesque, Roger Ballen: A Retrospective (2017)

With over 300 photographs, Ballenesque provides not only an entirely new way of seeing Ballen’s work, but also a comprehensive introduction for those encountering his photographs for the first time.

Unleashed (2017)

Unleashed, a collaboration between Roger Ballen and Dutch draftsman Hans Lemmen, reveals a universe of surreal truths born out of a dialogue between their respective mediums of photography and drawing.

No Joke (2016)

No Joke, the revolutionary collaborative series by Roger Ballen and Asger Carlsen. The self-contained series of 37 black-and-white photographs premieres in its entirety.

The Theatre of Apparitions (2016)

A ground-breaking monograph from Roger Ballen, it’s both a departure from his existing oeuvre and the culmination of his unique aesthetic, linking image-making and theatrical performance.

Asylum of the Birds (2014)

Roger Ballen’s masterful new monograph showcases photographs taken entirely within the confines of a house in a Johannesburg suburb, the location of which remains a tightly guarded secret.

Roger Ballen and Die Antwoord: I Fink U Freeky series

I Fink U Freeky (2013)

Art photography meets popular culture in this behind-the-scenes look at the making of a hugely successful music video by musicians Die Antwoord and photographer Roger Ballen.

Boarding House (2009)

Boarding House is a journey of discovery in which we leave our ordinary selves behind and confront a primitive part of the human condition and its psyche, occupying its own universe.

Shadow Chamber (2005)

Exploring the underbelly of existence, Roger Ballen’s striking, ambiguous images of people, animals and objects posed in mysterious, cell-like rooms occupy the grey area between fact and fiction.

Outland (2001)

Outland is the culmination of almost twenty years work for artist-photographer Roger Ballen and amounts to one of the most extraordinary photographic documents of the late twentieth century.

Platteland (1994)

For almost two decades, Roger Ballen photographed subjects in the South African countryside, searching for aesthetic symbols to convey a sense of the place and the people.

Dorps (1986)

The images in Dorps: Small Towns of South Africa define a body of work which is surely one of the purest and strongest aesthetic statements ever made in South African photography.

Boyhood (1979)

Each stunning photograph (culled from 15,000 boy photos shot during Ballen’s four-year quest) depicts the magic of boys revealed in their games, their adventures, their dreams, their mischief.