Roger Ballen / Hans Lemmen

This collaborative volume, published by Kerber Verlag in 2017, serves as an intersection between the stark, psychologically charged photography of Roger Ballen and the raw, archaic-inspired drawings of Hans Lemmen. The project emerged from a shared interest in the elemental aspects of the human condition, specifically the blurred lines between reality and the subconscious, reflecting the artists' mutual fascination with themes of isolation and the grotesque.

The book design emphasizes the tension between Ballen's high-contrast, often claustrophobic photographic compositions and Lemmen's earthy, intricate charcoal and pencil sketches. It functions less as a traditional art catalog and more as a visceral experience, curated to evoke the primal spaces both artists occupy in their respective mediums. The work received critical attention for its challenging aesthetic and the seamless, albeit haunting, dialogue it creates between two distinct visual vocabularies.