Asylum of the Birds

This new body of work extends the artistic trajectory charted across Roger Ballen’s three previous books – Outland, Shadow Chamber and Boarding House. The black-and-white images were photographed within the confines of a house in a Johannesburg suburb, the location of which remains a mystery. The inhabitants of the house, both people and animals, and most notably, the ever-present birds, are the cast who perform within a sculptural and decorated theatrical interior that Roger Ballen creates and orchestrates. The resulting images exist in a space between painting, drawing, installation and photography. They are timeless, psychologically powerful and masterfully composed. In a world in which photographers seek to avoid definition, Roger Ballen’s photographs defy classification and genres: his world stands out as one of a kind. ‘At first the images seem dense, incomprehensible, but automatically your brain sets to work picking them apart … compelling’ – Amateur Photographer