Thanks to an excellent article in The Age today by Gabriella Coslovich, I have discovered the wonderful photography of Roger Ballen. Born in New York, Ballen has lived in South Africa since the 1970s.
He made a specialty of photographing everyday live in the dorps (villages) of the Transvaal.
The pictures were controversial, because many of them feature “poor whites” at a time when apartheid was in place or just being dismantled.
In the interview, Ballen says each picture can be interpreted however the reader wishes. He describes himself as an art photographer, rather than a political/social commentator.
I commend this approach, like his style and appreciate his talent.
I’ve been to South Africa twice and can relate to the period in which Ballen took many of his photographs.
To me, the message is double edged. Firstly, the pictures expose the myth of white superiority. Secondly, they portray the vulnerability of African whites, especially the rural Afrikaners.
An exhibition of Ballen’s work will be at the Monash Gallery of Art, 860 Ferntree Gully Road, Wheelers Hill, until November 1, 2009.
Dresie and Casie, twins, Western Transvaal
Wife of Abattoir Worker Holding Three Puppies
Brian and pet pig
I’ve seen that first picture via Stumble Upon many times, often with negative comments. I love this kind of photography! I’d like to do some myself someday.
”The problem with photography is the mechanics are too easy. Everybody can buy a camera, everybody can take a photo. In fact, photography is a difficult art form to achieve anything with, because there are trillions or billions of images floating around and you have to create a vision of the world that separates itself from that, and that’s a big job. I tell you, it’s not easy.” (from the article)
I knew some of the pictures too but nothing about the photographer. Quite inspiring actually – thanks.
Michael said: ‘Firstly, the pictures expose the myth of white superiority.’
I’m not sure I’d agree fully with you that there is not at least some degree of white economic privilege in South Africa and Zimbabwe (though only a very small number of whites remain in Zimbabwe, of course).
White South Africans statistically have much higher incomes and assets than Black South Africans.
South Africa also has, I believe, the second highest level of economic inequality in the world (after Brazil, although it may be the other way around?) and most of this is along racial/ethnic lines.
Nonetheless, as Roger Ballen’s photos demonstrate there is a small, but not insignificant number of poor whites whose existence is not very well-known internationally.
I remember reading an article recently (can’t remember a link to it), about the growing number of poor whites in Zimbabwe.
Often these people have lost their jobs with the disintegration of the Zimbabwean economy over the past decade or so, but don’t have the required education/vocational skills to be eligible to emigrate to other nations, such as Australia, etc.
They are often particularly disadvantaged by the fact that unlike poor black Zimbabweans they lack ties to large extended families, who can provide financial assistance to them.
Twitter: mgorey
says:
Set in the context of apartheid, these photographs expose the myth of white superiority. These whites had the vote and institutionalised privilege, greater than a black man with a university degree and a house in an exclusive suburb (not that there were many of those in the early 90s).
Adam, many people don’t understand that a lot of Afrikaners were economically poor by western standards and that remains the case today. The white affluence has largely been the preserve of the English community.
Zimbabwe is different. Many of the remaining “poor whites” are retired civil servants whose pensions were never honoured by Mugabe, as they were supposed to be under the Lancaster House Agreement.