Showcasing Roger Ballen’s photographic work in colour, these stunning images remain grounded in the chaotic, absurd psychological space of the Ballenesque.

Having previously expressed no interest in colour photography, Roger Ballen was inspired to engage with the medium after receiving a Leica SL camera as a gift in 2016. Opening to the potential of colour in his work, Ballen used light in creative ways, exploring new avenues of experimentation. Spirits and Spaces eloquently captures the absurd and bizarre world of Roger Ballen, where animals and art brut–like drawings dominate, and humanity is reduced to obscure figures or fragmented body parts.

The colour images in Spirits and Spaces, created in conjunction with Ballen’s artistic director, Marguerite Rossouw, were produced in a claustrophobic space, constructed of worn, wallpapered wooden panels and with minimalistic lighting. Here, in this dense, oppressive environment, Ballen creates what might be seen by many as a world that is unexplainable in words: one in which absurdity, chaos, comedy, and tragedy apparently exist side by side.

Both a visual revelation and an artistic evolution by one of contemporary photography’s
most unique voices, Spirits and Spaces will be an essential and much-anticipated
photobook for all Roger Ballen fans.

'Roger Ballen: Spirits and Spaces' is published by Thames and Hudson & distributed in South Africa by Jonathan Ball Publishers