Roger Ballen - Spirits and Spaces

Published by Thames & Hudson in 2025, Spirits and Spaces serves as a comprehensive survey of Roger Ballen’s evolution as a photographer. The work captures the transition from his earlier, socially observant documentary style to the psychologically charged, stage-managed 'documentary fiction' for which he is now internationally renowned. It offers a window into the peculiar, claustrophobic, and often surreal interior worlds he meticulously constructs within abandoned buildings in South Africa.

The book design emphasizes the stark, high-contrast aesthetic that characterizes Ballen’s oeuvre, focusing on the interplay between human figures, animals, and the obsessive, graffiti-laden environments he creates. As a retrospective of his later career, the collection underscores his fascination with the subconscious, pushing the boundaries of traditional photography to explore the shadow side of the human psyche. The work has been received as a definitive entry in his bibliography, solidifying his status as a singular, albeit controversial, figure in contemporary fine art photography.