Boyhood is a series of photographs and stories through which Roger Ballen shows us around Europe, Asia, and North America. The photographer explores the subject of childhood, or more precisely, of boyhood – in the Himalayas, on Indonesian islands, in Chinese provinces and on the streets of American cities. Every photograph in the series – selected from over 15,000 photos taken during Ballen’s four-year-long journey – captures the magic worlds of boyhood, full of games and adventures, filled with dreams and anger. Boyhood is a monument of brotherhood that connects boys all around the world across the borders of nationality and culture.
Roger Ballen was born in New York in 1950. For the past 30 years, he has lived and worked in South Africa. Today, he is considered one of the most important and influential artists of the 21st century, with his photography career spanning the course of four decades. Ballen’s works, often provocative and unsettling, force the viewer to confront their own expectations and to follow the path chosen by the photographer, sometimes against their own will.
