Roger Ballen's Inside Out Foundation in Johannesburg, South Africa

By PETRA MASON November 16th, 2025

While we all wished we could be at Paris Photo this past week, it was the 'Hungry Ghost' book signing with a promise of 'punk enlightened poetry readings for all the fucked up children of the world' that appealled enormously. Published this month, 'Hungry Ghost' is the second collaborative monograph by the acclaimed photographer Roger Ballen and the award-winning Italian poet Gabriele Tinti. 'The Earth Will Come to Laugh and Feast'  was the first and features in a Whitehot Podcast (link at end). Both books deliver levels of punk DIY simplicity of verse and photographic negative, an antidote for the ages. 

Back in Johannesburg, South Africa, reality bites ahead of the G20 summit, with the host city (and all its flaws) in the spotlight. While the Wall Street Journal and BBC's reports throw shade, the City of Gold rolls with the punches. Artist William Kentridge famously lives in the former mining town as do a wealth of highly respected international and local experts, academics, professors, scientists, artists and thinkers. Among them is New York born artist-photographer Roger Ballen, founder of the city’s privately funded culture hub, the Inside Out Foundation.

Roger Ballen outside the Inside Out Foundation 

With a PhD in Geology, Ballen landed in South Africa initially setting up shop as a mining entrepreneur and photographer. Geology enabled him to afford to explore the mysteries of the planet and to pursue his obscure, counter-culture interests. Endlessly fascinated by the intersection between art and psychology and the relationship between the human race and the natural world, his interests were reflected by his signature aesthetic, known as ‘Ballenesque’ . The ‘Ballenesque’ style, coined by Robert Young, features intense portraits of marginalised subjects in surreal, claustrophobic settings. It juxtaposes random elements to evoke the subconscious and creates abstract, otherworldly scenes. The distinctive quality of his documentary fiction (from 2000 onward), has been said to reference the artistic genres of absurdist theatre, outsider art, art brut, naivism, photographic surrealism and the photographic grotesque.

Night falls at the Inside Out Foundation, Johannesburg, South Africa 

Sophisticated and understated, the centre’s programming is unashamedly designed for a select cultured crowd, but the not-for-profit welcomes school visits and hosts scholarly walkabouts where visitors get to see how every corner, inside and out, is carefully considered. Inside Out Centre for the Arts’ publication 'End of the Game', references the centre’s installation of the same name. The title is a play on words and a nod to Peter Beard’s original book about the transformation of Africa, highlighting the eradication of endangered wild animals by humans.

Designed to look ‘inside out’ the use of raw concrete throughout the double-volume, naturally lit gallery and exhibition space allows for a distinct aesthetic and psychological perspective.

The Inside Out Foundation unites two pioneering cultural spaces in Johannesburg — the Inside Out Centre for the Arts and the Roger Ballen Centre for Photography — a dynamic platform dedicated to advancing African excellence in photography. Through world-class exhibitions, educational programmes, and cross-cultural collaborations, the Foundation fosters creativity, dialogue, and critical engagement with the visual arts.

Visitors can view and purchase books and locally made obscure artifacts at the Inside Out Foundation book store including Ballen's numerous monographs and creative collaborations, including the two books with poet and self described boxing junkie Gabriele Tinti.

Ballen's new monograph 'Spirits and Spaces' published by Thames & Hudson sold at the Inside Out Foundation Book Store Photograph Petra Mason

Whitehot Podcast: Noah Becker in conversation with artist Roger Ballen and writer Gabrielle Tinti about their book 'The Earth Will Come to Laugh and Feast' published by Powerhouse Books

https://open.spotify.com/episode/3lYOe8Dx0B1Q9SRxtfNqxk?si=JWqEZC00Sg6yeVd3pfaP9A 

Roger Ballen's Inside Out Foundation https://www.insideoutcentreforthearts.com