103BETTER PHOTOGRA PHYGREAT MASTERS103Better photography103Better photographygreat masters103Better photographygreat mastersapril 2015
“The pictures
that leave you
feeling there’s
something
mysterious about
what’s out there,
are the ones
that have done
their job.”
—Roger Ballenpolitical backlash, even a few death threats.
“The white population I was photographing
didn’t like to be seen in this frivolous way.
They wanted to be seen as people who could
shape of their own reality. However, it was
their reality that shapes them.”
He continues, “With Outland, I started to
develop an aesthetic that revealed to me
important aspects and absurdities of the
human condition and the way people deal
with their realities.”
I am reminded of the William Faulkner’s
quote, “The only thing worth writing about
is the human heart in conflict with itself.”
This appears to be Roger’s photographic
philosophy as well. He puts it slightly
differently, “I am tasked with bringing the
interior to the exterior.”The Light Comes from the Darkness
Unsurprisingly, his images are often accused
of being dark. Roger welcomes this criticism
as a good thing. “When psychologists like
Karl Jung or Joseph Campbell referred to
the dark side, they were talking about the
side of themselves that people repressed.”
As a result, “I hope that my photos will let
people reconcile with the fragments of their
inner self that they haven’t come to terms
with. I have often said that the light comesfrom the dark. I don’t really understand
why people are bothered by the dark. In the
Jungian sense, darkness is what people fear
inside them. Dark is enigmatic.”To view more ofRoger Ballen’s work, you can visit
http://www.rogerballen.com“In this world, human
relationship with animals
isn’t an harmonious one.
Even pets... people buy
pets because they feel
a sense of alienation
and need something
to nurture,”says Ballen.Roger Ballen’s photos
are psychological
statements rather than
being political, social, or
economic ones.