Roger Ballen Opens a New Centre For Photography With a Surrealist Exhibition

A bright new chapter for photography in Africa begins in September 2025 with the opening of the Roger Ballen Centre for Photography in Johannesburg. The art destination is founded by internationally acclaimed photographer Roger Ballen and designed by award-winning architect Joe van Rooyen. Here’s what you need to know.

Roger Ballen Centre for Photography in Johannesburg | What's on in Joburg — Roger Ballen

Introducing the Roger Ballen Centre for Photography

This new centre is one of the few institutions on the continent devoted entirely to photography. Across three halls, including an extensive photographic bookstore, it provides space for reflection, experimentation, and critical engagement — from archival works to avant-garde projects.

“It’s always been my goal to create a dedicated space for photography in South Africa,” explains Roger Ballen. “I founded the Roger Ballen Foundation almost 20 years ago to support local photographers, but the missing piece was always a venue. With this Centre, I hope to provide a platform for powerful photographic voices, both African and international, and to engage the public in a deeper reflection on image-making today.”

PSYCHOPOMP! is a fusion of AI and surrealism

The Centre launches with PSYCHOPOMP!, a provocative exhibition curated by Berlin-based artist Boris Eldagsen, exploring AI-generated images as a mirror to the unconscious mind. PSYCHOPOMP! marks the launch of the Roger Ballen Centre for Photography with a bold, thought-provoking exhibition curated by Boris Eldagsen. This surrealist-driven showing brings together over 20 artists from around the world — including Arminda da Silva (South Africa), Ian Haig (Australia), Rosemberg (Spain), Infrarouge (France) and Crudguts (Brazil). The exhibition explores AI as a tool for self-discovery rather than spectacle.

Drawing on Jungian psychology, Eldagsen frames the exhibition as a journey into the “shadow” — the hidden parts of the self we often avoid. Surreal, uncanny and sometimes unsettling, the works challenge our perceptions of photography, technology and identity.

“The artists in PSYCHOPOMP! don’t ask AI for answers,” says Eldagsen. “They use it to interrogate their fears, shame and psychic leftovers. What you see is what the machine sees in them — and perhaps in you too.”

Roger Ballen calls AI “an expanding frontier” — one demanding urgent creative and ethical reflection.

Looking ahead: A preview of the next exhibition

The Roger Ballen Centre for Photography will unveil a powerful new show on 20 October 2025 alongside the International Association of Genocide Scholars Conference. Works by Marcelo Brodsky, Linda Paganelli, and Amy Fagin explore how photography can confront genocide and historical trauma.

Also on view is Roger Ballen’s latest body of colour work from his new Thames & Hudson monograph Spirits and Spaces, launched to mark the occasion. Curated by Marguerite Rossouw, the exhibition delves into haunting visions of chaos, memory, and the afterlife.

Need to know before you go

Cost: R50pp for general access. A combined ticket granting access to both the Photography Centre and the Inside Out Centre for the Arts is available for R150. Book online. Entry is free to the public on Saturday, 6 September 2025