At a precise point, unity, life, intensity, and poetry come about, and it's my job to know that point.
—Roger Ballen
Theater and collaboration play important roles in the art of Roger Ballen, particularly in works produced over the past decade. His photographs from this period are perhaps the most complex of his career to date, as they intertwine people, animals, objects, and drawings in surreal tableaux. Produced in spaces that Ballen arranges with his collaborator-subjects, the assembled environments become the stage where a type of free-form action unfolds.
Amidst the activity, Ballen selects the "decisive moment" (as Henri Cartier-Bresson called it) that he feels gives his photographs their authenticity. It is the instant when what is before the camera lens takes form and Ballen steps forward and takes the photograph. "At a certain point, and it may just be a small point," Ballen says, "it's totally up to me to recognize the moment to take the picture."
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