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The magazine of the photo-essay
Aug 2016 back issue
Asylum of the Birds
by Roger Ballen
A free, really high quality photo-essay magazine.  Fabulous! Stephen Fry. British actor, writer and film & documentary maker
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Asylum of the Birds is a new body of work by Roger Ballen, one of the most original image-makers of our times. Ballen has always sought to push the boundaries of photographic practice and has created an aesthetic and artistic vision unlike any other contemporary photographer. The images in Asylum of the Birds have been photographed entirely within the confines of a house in a Johannesburg suburb, the location of which remains a tightly guarded secret. The inhabitants of the house, both people and animals, and most notably the ever-present birds, are the cast who perform within a sculptural and decorated theatrical interior that Ballen creates and orchestrates. The resulting images are painterly, complex and surreal. They are richly layered with graffiti, drawings, animals and found objects. In a world where photographers seek to avoid definition, and whose work is often banal, Ballen is a true original who not only defies genres, but has defined his own artistic space as well.
Alter Ego 2010.
Altercation 2012.
Ambience 2006.
Ambushed 2010.
Artist 2013.
Ascension 2013.
Assimilated 2004.
Bereaved 2012.
Liberation 2011.
Malicious 2012.
Seduction 2012.
Slithering 2012.
Take off 2012.
Transformation 2004.
White Eye 2011.
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