Johannesburg’s new Roger Ballen Centre for Photography opens this month in Forest Town with a bold exhibition on AI. The show places local photographers in direct conversation with their international peers, while asking urgent questions about authenticity, creativity, and the future of the craft of bending light.
A Space Dedicated to Photography
Dedicated solely to photography, the Centre is one of the few such institutions of its kind on the continent, launching at a time when debates about truth, technology, and the role of the image intensify.
For founder Roger Ballen, who has lived and worked in South Africa for over four decades, the Centre fills a critical gap.
“Without sufficient spaces dedicated solely to photography, many gifted South African photographers still struggle to find the necessary platforms and support,” he says. “It will always be the goal of the Centre to present South African artists in dialogue with international peers. This is how new audiences are created, how standards are raised, and how the work of local photographers can take its place within a wider conversation about the image.”
AI at the Centre of Debate
The inaugural exhibition, PSYCHOPOMP!, curated by Berlin-based artist and theorist Boris Eldagsen, brings this vision to life. It brings together more than 20 artists from across the globe, including Johannesburg’s Arminda da Silva, whose AI works appears under the pseudonym ImagineThat.
Also featured is Vince Fraser, a UK-based “African Surrealist” who explores African themes. “African voices are essential here, because their perspectives are irreplaceable,” Boris notes.
Photography Versus AI
Boris became central to the AI debate after declining the Sony World Photography Award in 2023 for an AI-generated image. His curatorial stance is clear: “AI is not photography. Photographers work with light; they interact with what stands before the lens. AI can expand imagination, but it severs it from reality. What remains unique to photography is the authentic image.”
Opening with this theme was intentional. “AI has undeniably placed photography at a critical crossroads. By beginning here, we are bringing the very essence of photography into question and giving South Africans a realm in which they can participate in complex global debates,” says Roger.
What Comes Next
The Centre’s second exhibition, scheduled for late October 2025, will continue this vision. Coinciding with the International Association of Genocide Scholars Conference at the neighbouring Johannesburg Holocaust and Genocide Centre, it will showcase global photographic responses to genocide and trauma, alongside Roger’s new colour series Spirits and Spaces, curated by Marguerite Rossouw.
Part of a Larger Cultural Landscape
The Centre joins a constellation of Johannesburg institutions advancing cultural dialogue. The Inside Out Centre for the Arts presents multidisciplinary exhibitions linking photography with music, film, and literature. The Johannesburg Holocaust and Genocide Centre anchors reflection on atrocity and human rights. The Joburg Contemporary Art Foundation positions the city as a crucible for thought from the Global South, curating world-class exhibitions that place African artists in global conversation.
Together, these institutions demonstrate the city’s ability to generate cultural discourse with international reach while remaining rooted in local experience.
The Roger Ballen Centre for Photography opens to the public on 6 September 2025 at 2 Duncombe Road, Forest Town. Opening week (3–6 September) features lectures and artist walkabouts, inviting audiences into the conversations this new Centre is determined to spark.
