"You can't just walk the streets and hope to take hell down"

""Inferno", a visual reinterpretation of Dante Alighieri's "Divine Comedy", is presented by the Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow (MAMM) as part of the International "Photobiennale 2026". Its author, American and South African photographer Roger Ballen, has been balancing on the edge of documentary filmmaking, painting and psychological shadow theater for more than half a century, exploring the dark labyrinths of the human unconscious. His works are in the collections of the largest cultural centers in the world, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Georges Pompidou Center in Paris, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. "Izvestia" met with the classic of world photography and talked about the nature of fear, shopping at the capital's flea markets, snakes and cats living in the same house, as well as why artificial intelligence can never replace a live analog frame.

"Photography is an abstraction for me"

— Roger, you have brought the premiere project "Inferno" to Moscow. He invites viewers to a phantasmagorical journey through the otherworld of Dante, but at the same time the works cannot be called literal illustrations to the text of the "Divine Comedy". Why are you interested in the topic of hell?

— It doesn't matter where a person lives — in Russia, the USA, South America or South Africa. In any part of the world, each of us sooner or later asks questions: "What will happen to me when I leave this planet? Where will I go next?" It seems to me that this challenge is the most important and universal for humanity. That's what I'm trying to make sense of. "The series" was based on the first part of Dante Alighieri's "Divine Comedy" ("Hell"). Its concept originated back in 2016. And when today the viewer enters the hall where the exhibition is presented, he has a genuine feeling of immersion in the underworld.

— What inspired you to rethink Dante?

— I was only 14 years old when I first read his "Divine Comedy". Much later, an Italian friend of mine said: "Roger, you have to create your own "Inferno". At first, I was confused: how to do this? I've never illustrated a book before. Fortunately, I already had a series of works "Ghost Theater" created between 2012 and 2016. Some of these images formed the basis of a new series, and in the fall of 2025, my photo album of the same name was released in Rome.

— You used a unique technique that is located at the junction of photography, painting and shadow theater. How was this idea born?

— You can't just walk the streets, look into other people's windows and hope to photograph hell. Something picturesque and abstract was needed here. I came up with the idea to apply drawings directly to the glass, and then shoot them using special lighting. There are no living people in these shots, but this makes the sight even more creepy.

— Your work is always a challenge for the public. What photos have you selected for the Moscow exhibition?

— I am sincerely glad to have the opportunity to present my works to a Russian audience in such a modern space. For example, there is a series called "Outskirts" at the exhibition, which I have been working on for several years since 1994. It is dedicated to rural areas of the Republic of South Africa, mainly the suburbs of Johannesburg.

All the key cycles included in the exhibition were previously published in my monographs. They reflect the themes and directions to which I have devoted my whole life. For me, photography is an abstraction, and people should not confuse it with reality. I want as many viewers as possible to see this exhibition, so that they feel it deeply and come out of the museum a little different.

"I am fascinated by how Moscow has changed"

— Roger, in the photos from the series "Room of Shadows" you take pictures of people with animals. Cats are often the main characters. Are you a cat lover?

— I love all animals. I have several cats living at home, as well as spiders, snakes, rats, mice, chickens, roosters, dogs, and a lizard. Maybe someone else, I won't remember right away. (He smiles).

— And there are no conflicts between them? They can just eat each other.

— No, they get along fine and love me, just as I love them. This is a very interesting question, because when cats see rats, they just ignore each other. But snakes really love mice... and they only feed on them. (Laughs). I buy grasshoppers for spiders. Have you noticed that predators don't eat dead prey? That's how nature works.

— You love animals, but at the same time, in your projects you shoot, to put it mildly, not the most beautiful people, deliberately showing their flaws. Why are you interested in this?

— I don't distinguish between beautiful and ugly. At night, when it's dark, these boundaries blur. Life is what it is.

— Do you think artificial intelligence is capable of invading the part of creativity that you are engaged in?

"That doesn't apply to me. AI will never interfere in my projects — I'm a person of a completely different generation, and I'm simply not interested in it. Fortunately, this technological wave will not affect me anymore. I can see right away if there is a digital surrogate present somewhere. A machine will never be able to create a live, deep frame the way a human does.

— Do you like Moscow?

- yes. I first came to the USSR when Gorbachev was still in power. Then in 1994. Then he returned in 2000. I admire how Moscow has changed. It's an incredibly interesting city, so I'm happy to come to Russia again and again.

— What would you like to shoot here?

— Yesterday I visited the flea market — an amazing place! I bought a bunch of things.

— What did you like so much?

— Oh, I can't list everything. You should see how much stuff I've brought to the hotel. It will turn out to be a huge suitcase. All these are things that feel like a bygone era, there is something reminiscent of the USSR. The soul lives in them, a very special aesthetic is hidden. At the same time, I am not a political photographer and I do not seek to capture a specific historical time in the objects. Their inner essence is important to me, so they can come from anywhere.