Self portrait

Selfportrait is a documentary about the controversial photographer Roger Ballen. Born and bred in New York, he has lived in South Africa for nearly thirty years. The film sketches his development as photographer and en passant the development of South Africa. From the environs of Johannesburg, he portrays the poor whites, a class that remained hidden and was assumed not to exist. He has taken disturbing photos of individuals living on the fringe of society. Their faces are marked with fear, insanity, disappointment and helplessness. They are photos, that mercilessly reveal the personal tragedy of these people.
The documentary gives these people a voice where the photos remain silent.
(Roger Ballen has been given the ‘Arles Photographer of the Year Award at the Rencontres d’Arles, France, 2002.)