Roger Ballen: Shadows of the Mind is a retrospective exhibition of photographic works by South African based photographer and visual artist, Roger Ballen. Curated by Hercules Papaioannou, the exhibition runs from the 6th of November 2025 – 25th January 2026, inviting viewers to walk through several stages of Ballen’s renowned career.
Over the past five decades, Roger Ballen’s photography has been ever-evolving. Stylistically, he progressed his square formatted photographs from stark black and white to more elaborate staged scenes that are shot in “monochromatic” muted colour. Conceptually, Ballen’s earlier works presented a more documentarian perspective, capturing the life of those around him during his work as a geologist in rural South Africa. However, as his interaction with his subjects developed, his focus has shifted towards the inner-world of the human psyche, leading him to what he describes as ‘documentary fiction’. Now his work exists in a canon of its own; the Ballenesque – a theatre of the mind made up of animate and inanimate characters, ghosts, animals and absurdity.
Born in New York in 1950, Ballen has been living and working in South Africa for the last 40 years. He is among the 21st century’s most influential and important fine-art photographers. In his practice Ballen has increasingly interrogated the possibilities of integrating photography, drawing and installation – constantly expanding his repertoire and his visual language. This integration has not only made a lasting contribution to the field of art, but equally has made a powerful commentary about the human condition and its creative potential.
This retrospective exhibition, Roger Ballen: Shadows of the Mind, brings together various independent photographic series; namely Dorps (1986), Platteland (1994), Outland (2001), Shadow Chamber (2004), Boarding House (2009), Asylum of Birds (2013), Theatre of Apparitions (2016) and Spirits and Spaces (2025). To view these works together allows audiences to have a concentrated experience in which they are able to recount the shift in his imagery. From the documentation of the earlier works into the creation of the psychological theatre that became the stage for his works during the early 2000s, and finally arriving at a new progression of viewing the Ballenesque in colour with the release of his latest publication Spirits and Spaces. This exhibition provides an opportunity to survey the extent of Ballen’s ability to transform an image beyond the confines of narrative or medium, as well as his interest in forefronting what lies on the fringes of our consciousness. Ballen, who refers to himself as an “outsider,” describes it like this:
“ It has been my goal to break down the boundaries between photography and other arts, taking photography out of its self-isolation as a form.”
Although Ballen is widely noted as a photographer, his practice itself destabilises photography’s singularity due to the integration of photography, painting, drawing, installation and video – transforming it into a medium that considers all formal visual elements. Composition, line, mark and metaphor function to expand the photographs far beyond simply capturing what is in front of the camera. This kind of layered image making provokes the eye and challenges viewers to look inwards at the worlds of their own thoughts and feelings, rather than simply recognising an iteration of reality – this is the power of the Ballenesque.
Roger Ballen: Shadows of the Mind demonstrates the extraordinary breadth of Ballen’s practice while affirming his central goal: to dissolve boundaries, expand creative potential and transform photography into a theatre of the mind.
Roger Ballen has published over 25 books internationally. His works are in more than 50 of the most important international museum collections. Ballen has also been the creator of several acclaimed and exhibited short films that dovetail with his photographic series. Ballen was one of the artists that represented South African at the Venice Biennale Arte 2022. He is also the founder and executive director of the Inside Out Centre for the Arts and the Roger Ballen Centre for Photography in Johannesburg. The Centre aims to promote an awareness of International and African related issues through art and educational programmes. Read more: https://www.insideoutcentreforthearts.com/ In September 2025, Thames and Hudson released Spirits and Spaces, the first ever publication of Ballen’s work in colour.
Hercules Papaioannou is a Greek curator, art historian, and educator born in Thessaloniki in 1962. He studied Physics at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and earned a Master’s degree in Photography from New York University. He is currently a PhD candidate in the Department of Journalism and Mass Media at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
Since 1999, Papaioannou has served as a curator at MOMus–Thessaloniki Museum of Photography, where he is also the Head of the Collections Department. He has curated numerous exhibitions, including “Anthropause” and “Neutral Zone,” and has edited several photographic publications. His translations include works by Susan Sontag, Ian Jeffrey, and Vilém Flusser.
Benaki Museum
Koumpari 1, Athens 106 74, Greece
https://www.benaki.org/index.php?lang=el
