Renowned photographer Roger Ballen has ventured into color photography for the first time in his career with the release of "Spirits and Spaces," a groundbreaking monograph published by Thames & Hudson in September 2025. The collection represents a dramatic shift for the artist, who had previously worked exclusively in black and white photography throughout his distinguished career.
Ballen's transition to color began in 2016 when he received a Leica SL camera as a gift, inspiring him to explore new creative possibilities. This shift prompted the photographer to re-examine fundamental elements of his work, including the relationships between light, depth, texture, and form. The resulting images maintain his signature "Ballenesque" style while introducing a new dimension to his artistic vision.
The photographs in "Spirits and Spaces" were created in collaboration with Ballen's artistic director, Marguerite Rossouw, in a deliberately constructed claustrophobic environment. The shooting space consisted of worn, wallpapered wooden panels with minimalistic lighting, creating a dense and oppressive atmosphere that serves as the backdrop for Ballen's surreal compositions.
Within this unsettling environment, Ballen has crafted what critics describe as an unexplainable world where absurdity, chaos, comedy, and tragedy coexist. His images feature animals and Art Brut-like drawings as dominant elements, while human presence is reduced to obscure figures or fragmented body parts. According to Gerhard Clausing from Photo Book Journal, "Ballen challenges us to confront what most photographic traditions tend to avoid: the disordered, the irrational, the uncanny."
Despite their initially grotesque appearance, many compositions reveal deeper meanings upon closer examination. Clausing notes that these works "unfold into meditations on fragility, vulnerability, and the persistence of creativity in the midst of chaos." He suggests that "Spirits and Spaces is about the resilience of the human spirit when faced with fractured environments and fractured selves," highlighting an unexpected tenderness within the unsettling imagery.
The monograph contains 91 color images organized into six thematic chapters: Childhood, Spectre, Animus, Shadow, Libido, and Chaos. Each section explores different aspects of human psychology and experience through Ballen's distinctive visual language. The "Childhood" section features raw, primitive-style drawings that invite viewers to engage with childhood memories, while "Spectre" offers glimpses into invisible worlds existing in the depths of consciousness.
The "Animus" chapter focuses on animals that pervade Ballen's spaces, appearing in unexpected places where they seemingly don't belong. As Ballen explains, "You cannot escape the animal. You cannot run away from the animal. The animal is deep inside. We come from the animal." The "Shadow" section explores the mysterious nature of shadows that follow us, described as "untouchable, unfathomable, haunting, unsettling and never easily explained."
In the "Libido" chapter, Ballen examines the fundamental drive that "is built into the mechanism of consciousness itself" and remains "a constant in life, present from birth, that defines our existence on the planet, whether human or animal." The final "Chaos" section depicts rooms that represent "the conflicted relationship between civilization and nature, where opposites attract and break apart in a world built not on logic, but on irrationality."
Critics have praised the work as a significant evolution in Ballen's artistic journey. Lily Kroeger from Musee Magazine writes that "Spirits and Spaces confirms Ballen's status as one of the most distinctive photographic voices of our time. By embracing color, he has not abandoned the Ballenesque but pushed it further, creating a theatre where spirits, animals and memories collide in spaces that are as unsettling as they are unforgettable."
The book is now available for purchase through Thames & Hudson's website, marking a historic moment in contemporary photography as one of the medium's most influential artists expands his creative boundaries while maintaining the psychological depth and visual complexity that has defined his work for decades.
