I think drawing is a way of expressing what's inside the mind through the hand.
—Roger Ballen
Images of hands feature prominently in the lexicon of Roger Ballen's work. Hands are portrayed, for example, holding spiders, capturing rats, releasing doves, or pulling cats' tails, reminding us of the tactile quality of Ballen's images. Touch is ever present in his photographs.
Most of Ballen's images include drawings, lines, or marks. Even in photographs where the hand is absent, it is implied by the anonymously drawn scribbles and scrawls left behind. For Ballen, the hand and its markings represent a powerful metaphor of human existence.
Marks and scrawls present Ballen with a challenge, however, for he has noted that his "camera doesn't draw." To create a visual coherence that integrates the elements and completes a picture, he must bring his own "hand" to bear. Ballen's hand is evident in what Henri Cartier-Bresson called the "decisive moment" when the photographer's finger snaps the camera shutter to capture the image.
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