The hanging pig, 2001

Roger Ballen is an American photographer who has lived and worked in South Africa for more than forty years. Over the decades Ballen has developed his own unique style of photography, which has been critically acclaimed even when it has not been particularly understood. He tends shoot most of his stills in black and white, and is never afraid to experiment. Although he has lived in the Johannesburg for such a long time it took over a decade to start taking photographs in South Africa on a notable scale. Indeed his first published book of photographs to be published were those he had taken as a child in his home city of New York and on family stays in London. Ballen has gained a reputation for taking unusual pictures and their uniqueness has made his work stand out from that of others. Critics and viewers alike find his photos fascinating to look at as well as to study, despite not always understanding why these pictures were taken in those ways. He has often used his works to demonstrate the interaction between human beings and the animals that can be found surrounding them. He developed an interest in filming animals whilst he was touring the smaller towns and villages of South Africa whilst he was taking pictures of the people living there. (Artist website)