Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 12

Roger Ballen
Giggles – Roger Ballen, Black and White, Staged, Vintage, Smiley, Wall, Flower

2007

About the Item

Roger BALLEN Giggles, from the series 'Boarding House', 2006 Vintage silver gelatin print Image 45 x 45 cm (17 3/4 x 17 3/4 in.) Sheet 50 x 50 cm (19 3/4 x 19 3/4 in.) Edition of 10 (#3/10) Signed and dated verso in pencil Print only Christophe Guye Galerie offers a selection of vintage prints from the series 'Boarding House' and 'Shadow Chamber', which have never been published before. – About Roger Ballen Considered one of the most original image-makers of the twenty-first century, American-born photographer Roger Ballen has lived and worked in South Africa for four decades. His latest work, Asylum of the Birds, is set within the confines of a makeshift house on the outskirts of Johannesburg, a place inhabited by individuals at the absolute margins of society. In this anarchic place, the human and animal inhabitants collaborate as Ballen’s cast in an on going series of quasi-directed performances. As we enter Ballen’s layered netherworld the images simultaneously repel and compel our gaze and transport us to an even darker dream world, that of the fears within our own imagination. The omnipresent birds, both alive and dead, signal a foreboding reminiscent of Hitchcock, while simultaneously suggesting hope and freedom. While the word ‘asylum’ could be defined a place of insanity, it also suggests refuge and persists in our mind as a metaphor for redemption. Says Ballen of his work; “My purpose in taking photographs over the past forty years has ultimately been about defining myself. It has been fundamentally a psychological and existential journey.” The photographer studied psychology at the University of California, and later his PhD at the Colorado School of Mines, specialising in Mineral Economics. Ballen was originally drawn to South Africa to work as a geologist, but his enthusiasm for photography strengthened, and he has been taking images there for nearly fifty years. Ballen has had over 50 exhibitions worldwide, and his work is being collected by some 40 museums worldwide, including the Folkwang, Essen, LACMA, Los Angeles, Musée de l’Elysée, Lausanne, Stedelijk, Amsterdam, Victoria and Albert, London, Centre Pompidou, Paris, and the MoMA, New York, just to name a few. – Roger Ballen, Photography, B/W, Animal, Human, People, Abstract, Surreal, Disturbing, Piano, Vintage, Boarding House
  • Creator:
    Roger Ballen (1950, American)
  • Creation Year:
    2007
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 19.69 in (50 cm)Width: 19.69 in (50 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Period:
  • Framing:
    Framing Options Available
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Zurich, CH
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU1280112370562

More From This Seller

View All
Untitled (Calendar) – Lina Scheynius, Black and White, Photography, Woman, Light
By Lina Scheynius
Located in Zurich, CH
Lina Scheynius (*1981 Sweden) Untitled (Calendar) 2013 Fibre-based silver gelatin print Image 16 x 24 cm (6 1/4 x 9 1/2 in.) Sheet 25 x 30 cm (9 7/8 x 11 3/4 in.) Frame 31,1 x 36,2 c...
Category

2010s Contemporary Black and White Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Monkey with Gun, New York City – Albert Watson, Contemporary, Gun, Vintage
By Albert Watson
Located in Zurich, CH
ALBERT WATSON (*1942, Scotland) Monkey with Gun, New York City 1992 Vintage Silver Gelatin Print, Unique Image 36 x 28 cm (14 1/8 x 11 in.) Sheet 61 x 50.8 cm (24 x 20 in.) Frame 62 ...
Category

1990s Contemporary Black and White Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Woman by the Pool - Beverly Hills Hotel, California U.S.A – Anthony Friedkin
By Anthony Friedkin
Located in Zurich, CH
Anthony FRIEDKIN (*1949, America) Woman by the Pool, Beverly Hills Hotel, Beverly Hills, California, U.S.A., 1975 Silver Gelatin Print, later print 40.6 x 50.8 cm (16 x 20 in.) Editi...
Category

1970s Contemporary Black and White Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Woman by the Pool - Beverly Hills Hotel, California U.S.A – Anthony Friedkin
By Anthony Friedkin
Located in Zurich, CH
Anthony FRIEDKIN (*1949, America) Woman by the Pool, Beverly Hills Hotel, Beverly Hills, California, U.S.A., 1975 Silver Gelatin Print, later print Image 76,2 x 114,3 cm (30 x 45 in....
Category

1970s Contemporary Black and White Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Metamorphosis – Roger Ballen, Black and White, Staged, Vintage, Nude, Animal
By Roger Ballen
Located in Zurich, CH
Roger BALLEN Metamorphosis, from the series 'Boarding House', 2006 Vintage silver gelatin print Image 45 x 45 cm (17 3/4 x 17 3/4 in.) Sheet 50 x 50 cm (19 3/4 x 19 3/4 in.) Edition ...
Category

Early 2000s Black and White Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Untitled (Diary) – Lina Scheynius, Black and White, Human Figure, Nude, Erotic
By Lina Scheynius
Located in Zurich, CH
LINA SCHEYNIUS (*1981, Sweden) Untitled (Diary), 2002 Fibre-based silver gelatin print, hand proofed by the artist. Image 40 x 60 cm (15 3/4 x 23 5/8 in.) Sheet 50 x 70 cm (19 5/8 x ...
Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Black and White Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

You May Also Like

Deena's back - Willy Ronis, 20th Century, French Humanist Photography
By Willy Ronis
Located in Paris, FR
One of the most famous members of the Humanist photography in France. Signed lower right by the artist. Stamp of the artist's studio on the back.
Category

1950s Contemporary Black and White Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin

Rue Muller Willy Ronis Twentieth Century Humanist photography Paris black white
By Willy Ronis
Located in Paris, FR
One of the most famous members of the Humanist photography in France. Signed lower right by the artist. Stamp of the artist's studio on the back.
Category

1930s Contemporary Black and White Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin

Carrefour Sèvres-Babylone Willy Ronis Twentieth Century Humanist photography art
By Willy Ronis
Located in Paris, FR
One of the most famous members of the Humanist photography in France. Signed lower right by the artist. Stamp of the artist's studio on the back.
Category

1940s Contemporary Black and White Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin

Audubon Park Swimming Pool, Silver Gelatin Print
By Jack Robinson
Located in Memphis, TN
Originally a graphic artist, he picked up the camera in New Orleans, honed his craft there photographing his life, friends, and street scenes, and eventually decided to pursue a care...
Category

1950s Black and White Photography

Materials

Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin

Lingerie Shop, Silver Gelatin Print
By Jack Robinson
Located in Memphis, TN
Jack captured his own reflection against a lingerie display in New York in the mid 1960s. The window advertises the "luau sarong set for cruises," the "Happy Days are Here Again" lace set...
Category

1960s Black and White Photography

Materials

Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin

Grandpa
By Hunter Barnes
Located in New York, NY
Hunter Barnes has documented his stay when joining the Tamkaliks Powwow in Wallowa, Oregon. This work is an artist proof, archival silver gelatin, handprinted by the artist and signe...
Category

Early 2000s Black and White Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Recently Viewed

View All