JOHANNESBURG.- A bold new chapter for photography in Africa begins this September with the opening of the Roger Ballen Centre for Photography in Forest Town, Johannesburg. Founded by internationally acclaimed photographer Roger Ballen, and designed by award-winning architect Joe van Rooyen, the space is one of the few institutions on the continent dedicated entirely to photography. Across three halls, and including an extensive photographic bookstore, the new Centre offers space for reflection, experimentation, and critical engagement — from the archival to the avant-garde.

“It’s always been my goal to create a dedicated space for photography in South Africa. 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.” — Roger Ballen

The Centre launches with PSYCHOPOMP! — a provocative new exhibition curated by Berlin-based artist and theorist Boris Eldagsen, realised with the support of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF), that explores the evolving role of AI-generated images as a mirror to the unconscious mind.

Eldagsen is an award-winning photomedia artist and philosopher whose practice blends photography, painting, theatre, and film to delve into the hidden corners of the psyche. His career spans major exhibitions and festivals across Europe, Asia, and Australia, and he is internationally recognised for igniting a global debate on AI and art when he declined the 2023 Sony World Photography Award for an AI-generated image.

In support of the exhibition’s timely themes, Inge Herbert, Regional Director for Sub Saharan Africa at the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, notes: “We believe in the power of creativity, innovation, and the free exchange of ideas. At a time when AI technologies are rapidly transforming how images are created, shared, and understood, it is vital to foster education that equips audiences and artists alike to navigate this new landscape.

By encouraging freedom of expression and critical engagement, we can help build a vibrant, sustainable creative ecosystem in which African voices contribute meaningfully to the global conversation on art and photography.”

Debut Exhibition: PSYCHOPOMP!

PSYCHOPOMP!, the Centre’s inaugural exhibition curated by Boris Eldagsen, brings together artists from around the world who explore AI as a tool for self-exploration rather than spectacle. In Eldagsen’s view, the exhibition draws on Jungian psychology to examine the “shadow” — those hidden aspects of the self we often deny. Featuring over 20 artists including Arminda da Silva (SA), Ian Haig (Australia), Rosemberg (Spain), Infrarouge (France), and Crudguts (Brazil), the show uses surreal, uncanny and often unsettling imagery to challenge perceptions of both photography and identity.

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

In his own words, Ballen describes AI as an expanding frontier: “AI is transforming photography and many other fields, raising urgent creative and ethical questions. That’s why we’re launching with this show. We want to confront these issues head-o —and set a tone of relevance and reflection from the start.”