A Roger Ballen photograph stands out as a Roger Ballen image. . . . My intention is to create imagery that challenges the mind.
—Roger Ballen
Roger Ballen has devised a special technique for a series of works in which he paints and draws directly onto glass. He then illuminates the glass from behind and photographs it. A significant shift has taken place in these photographs, as the raw, graffiti-like drawing characteristic of much of Ballen's work has been replaced by a series of abstract, glyphlike images.
In the Apparitions series, translucent values of black and stark white lines transform the images to their most abstract. Although the drawings are deliberately ambiguous, they unmistakably reveal Ballen's hand. Lush painterly surfaces combine to articulate a new narrative that pushes the boundaries between photography, painting, drawing, and the camera lens.
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