This is Not a Church, the Art of Roger Ballen

When Mitch and I were in Copenhagen, we came across a church building with a large vertical banner that read, "This is Not a Church." So, naturally, we went inside.

It was an art gallery featuring the American photographer, Roger Ballen. It cost some money to get in, but it was in Danish krone so nobody could tell how much.

Ballen has lived in Johannesburg since the 1970s, and has taken pictures of some of the poverty there. His early work has more of a documentary feel, something like what you'd find in National Geographic. Of those early photographs, this one stood out to me. 

Man Shaving on a Verandah

I love this type of photo. I grew up tracing ones like it in my parents's National Geographic coffee-table books. In such photographs, the dirt makes the walls more interesting. The weathered skin and hardened eyes of the subjects tell stories of suffering. There's more individuality in photos like that than in ones of boring rich people. 

The problem is that there's a voyeurism to taking or looking at these photos. I, with money, am able to look into your little-money life through this fancy coffee table book. It's an issue. Imaginary tourism to underprivileged classes. 

Ballen's later work does something about this. 

Sick Room

He fictionalizes the work. He sets up scenes. He lets the subjects become actors. He turns the photo around to where the joke is on the audience.

The photos are much more uncomfortable - or even scary - to look at. When I was looking at them, I felt like Ballen was solving something. And while the images were interesting and even beautiful, I felt, rightly, that I would not like to live there.

365 project.

what sunshine does to the people of seattle.
sista's 21!
it is forbidden to bring pets to school.
mirror facing the sky.
shane.
seattle flash mob.
bellevue community center.
rec time.
robert.
snow fight.
271 bus.
re-living childhood.
spring at nighttime.
jeremy playing kanasta.
playdough berries.
an art lesson.
string.

Guitarist

project update.

jan 18-one of many drives to and from spokane.
feb 19-erin and erik.
jan 20-josh's drunk banana grams.
jan 05. chocolati.
jan 08- snowshoeing.
jan 29-bread and wine.
jan 07-an engagement ring.
jan 28- laundry.
jan 19-work.
feb 13-apples in spokane.
feb 21-kyle and anne.
feb 01-amina.
feb 20-white detroit.
feb 24-a cat by my boot.
feb 25-trees in bellevue.

365.

So, I've started a project that I really hope I finish.

I plan on taking one picture everyday for the rest of the year. The purpose of this project is to do two things:
-to practice photography on a daily basis
and
-to create a story that requires 365 days to figure itself out.

The duration and patience and commitment of this project empathizes with my own ideas and plans and unknowns for my future.

These are my three photos so far. I won't post every single one even though it would also (hopefully) improve my writing skills.
We'll just have to see.

from top to bottom:

jan 01- the first thing I saw when I woke up that morning. Lake Tapps from Nic Vargus' house.
jan 02- Jon Fox fixing my car. He would say, "I didn't fix your car, I just reattached the rubber lining to the inner frame."
I say Jon Fox fixed my car.
jan 03- A kid at my middle school grabbed handfuls of paper towels, threw them in a trash bin in the boy's bathroom and lit it on fire. The school was frantic and smokey. This is the fire truck that saved the day.