Asylum

by Roger Ballen

Asylum

Short film about the surrealist explorations which feed the photographer's work.

it Asylum, as in a place of both refuge and confinement. There he found a diverse sampling of South African society, from the bright and peaceful symbol of wild birds to a chaotic environment filled with madness. Human presence disappears under mask and make-up to focus on body fragments and a permanent tension between the free world and the world behind closed doors, at once tragic and comical, attractive and repulsive. Asylum is also a book published in 2013 by Thames and Hudson publishing house.
• Directed by Saskia Vredeveld in collaboration with Roger Ballen (8:45 minutes)