The Flickr Southafricanphotographer Image Generatr

With a unique visual signature, Roger Ballen’s existential psychodramas have maintained their uncompromising independence, vividly capturing the imagination of generations over five decades. These images are unsettling in the very fact that they will not easily resolve to a neat conclusion. The spectres of poverty and violence, while performing their roles with aesthetic absurdity, haunt these images with their tacit implication of complicity. Who is responsible for the dispossessed? Discomfort is a luxury of the comfortable. And why are these apparently alien images somehow so familiar? Is this hermetic world not so much the far-off land of a distant other’s imagination, but that which rests within us, beyond the reach of consciousness?

Roger Ballen speaks frankly about his work and the enigma of the human condition at Talking Pictures.

talking-pictures.online/2025/06/04/roger-ballen-the-enigm...

Didn't get my proper camera out much on our recent trip home. However, I did make more of an effort than the last time I carried all my gear back home and didn't capture one image. Was a different trip that time.

Blix is an amazing little joint. Sara and I, had a very pleasant afternoon, sipping a couple of drinks here on our last venture home.

A sublime atmosphere to be sure.

Dorp Street in Stellenbosch.

Western Cape, 2024

Worcester, Western Cape, 2024

© Wil Wardle

Some more recent photography from myself. Captured on a recent trip home to the Cape. Steam Locomotive Engineer; The New Cape Central Railway's Robertson Wine Train. Robertson, Western Cape, 2024

@WilWardlePhotography

Kind of Blue, 2020
Claudette Johnson
Pastel and gouache on paper

This is one of Claudette Johnson's most enigmatic works. The young man's striking features, beautifully and sensitively shaped in pastel, draw us in and set us wondering about his identity and story. Adrift on a sea of blue, he might be regally posed on a couch or perched on a makeshift bed. The work has its origins in a photograph by the South African photographer Peter Magubane, which inspired Johnson to transform the composition of that image to create this work. The atmosphere of wistful contemplation she achieves is matched by the title Kind of Blue, taken from Miles Davis famous jazz album.*

From the exhibition


Claudette Johnson: Presence
(September 2023 – January 2024)

A major exhibition of work by British artist Claudette Johnson (born 1959) is now open at The Courtauld Gallery.

A founding member of the Black British Arts Movement, Claudette Johnson is considered one of the most significant figurative artists of her generation. For over 30 years she has created large-scale drawings of Black women and men that are at once intimate and powerful.
Presenting a carefully selected group of major works from across her career, from key early drawings such as the arresting I Came to Dance, 1982, and And I Have My Own Business in This Skin, 1982, alongside recent and new works, this exhibition offers a compelling overview of Johnson’s pioneering career and artistic development.
It will consider how Johnson has directed her approach to representing her subjects over three decades, and how her practice is rooted in the art of the past with The Courtauld’s collection providing a rich context in which to see her work.
Working in a variety of media, ranging from monochrome works in dark pastel to vast sheets brightly coloured in vibrant gouache and watercolour, combined with dramatic use of pose, gaze, and scale, Johnson’s distinctive drawings of friends, relatives, and often herself seek, as the artist puts it, “to tell a different story about our presence in this country”.
This exhibition is the first monographic show of Claudette Johnson’s work at a major public gallery in London and is rooted in the ongoing research, teaching and activities in the field of Black and Diasporic British Art by Dorothy Price, Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art and Critical Race Art History at The Courtauld..
[*The Courtauld]

Taken in the Courtauld

Blues Dance, 2023
Claudette Johnson
Pastel and gouache on paper

This work, made especially for the exhibition, reflects the significance of music within Claudette Johnson's practice. The figure of a woman swaying to a beat is inspired by a photograph that Johnson came across. Blues Dance is imbued with her own memories of being part of the Blue Beat reggae dance scene in the 1980s, when dances were often held in people's homes, as well as referring to the great tradition of Blues music. The title also picks up the colour of the woman's dress, painted with the aim, as Johnson has remarked, 'to make the blues move in the work.' The drawing conveys the feeling of a woman being at one with herself, fully absorbed in the music and moving to her own beat.*

From the exhibition


Claudette Johnson: Presence
(September 2023 – January 2024)

A major exhibition of work by British artist Claudette Johnson (born 1959) is now open at The Courtauld Gallery.

A founding member of the Black British Arts Movement, Claudette Johnson is considered one of the most significant figurative artists of her generation. For over 30 years she has created large-scale drawings of Black women and men that are at once intimate and powerful.
Presenting a carefully selected group of major works from across her career, from key early drawings such as the arresting I Came to Dance, 1982, and And I Have My Own Business in This Skin, 1982, alongside recent and new works, this exhibition offers a compelling overview of Johnson’s pioneering career and artistic development.
It will consider how Johnson has directed her approach to representing her subjects over three decades, and how her practice is rooted in the art of the past with The Courtauld’s collection providing a rich context in which to see her work.
Working in a variety of media, ranging from monochrome works in dark pastel to vast sheets brightly coloured in vibrant gouache and watercolour, combined with dramatic use of pose, gaze, and scale, Johnson’s distinctive drawings of friends, relatives, and often herself seek, as the artist puts it, “to tell a different story about our presence in this country”.
This exhibition is the first monographic show of Claudette Johnson’s work at a major public gallery in London and is rooted in the ongoing research, teaching and activities in the field of Black and Diasporic British Art by Dorothy Price, Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art and Critical Race Art History at The Courtauld..
[*The Courtauld]

Taken in the Courtauld

Blues Dance, 2023
Claudette Johnson
Pastel and gouache on paper

This work, made especially for the exhibition, reflects the significance of music within Claudette Johnson's practice. The figure of a woman swaying to a beat is inspired by a photograph that Johnson came across. Blues Dance is imbued with her own memories of being part of the Blue Beat reggae dance scene in the 1980s, when dances were often held in people's homes, as well as referring to the great tradition of Blues music. The title also picks up the colour of the woman's dress, painted with the aim, as Johnson has remarked, 'to make the blues move in the work.' The drawing conveys the feeling of a woman being at one with herself, fully absorbed in the music and moving to her own beat.*

From the exhibition


Claudette Johnson: Presence
(September 2023 – January 2024)

A major exhibition of work by British artist Claudette Johnson (born 1959) is now open at The Courtauld Gallery.

A founding member of the Black British Arts Movement, Claudette Johnson is considered one of the most significant figurative artists of her generation. For over 30 years she has created large-scale drawings of Black women and men that are at once intimate and powerful.
Presenting a carefully selected group of major works from across her career, from key early drawings such as the arresting I Came to Dance, 1982, and And I Have My Own Business in This Skin, 1982, alongside recent and new works, this exhibition offers a compelling overview of Johnson’s pioneering career and artistic development.
It will consider how Johnson has directed her approach to representing her subjects over three decades, and how her practice is rooted in the art of the past with The Courtauld’s collection providing a rich context in which to see her work.
Working in a variety of media, ranging from monochrome works in dark pastel to vast sheets brightly coloured in vibrant gouache and watercolour, combined with dramatic use of pose, gaze, and scale, Johnson’s distinctive drawings of friends, relatives, and often herself seek, as the artist puts it, “to tell a different story about our presence in this country”.
This exhibition is the first monographic show of Claudette Johnson’s work at a major public gallery in London and is rooted in the ongoing research, teaching and activities in the field of Black and Diasporic British Art by Dorothy Price, Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art and Critical Race Art History at The Courtauld..
[*The Courtauld]

Taken in the Courtauld

Kind of Blue, 2020
Claudette Johnson
Pastel and gouache on paper

This is one of Claudette Johnson's most enigmatic works. The young man's striking features, beautifully and sensitively shaped in pastel, draw us in and set us wondering about his identity and story. Adrift on a sea of blue, he might be regally posed on a couch or perched on a makeshift bed. The work has its origins in a photograph by the South African photographer Peter Magubane, which inspired Johnson to transform the composition of that image to create this work. The atmosphere of wistful contemplation she achieves is matched by the title Kind of Blue, taken from Miles Davis famous jazz album.*

From the exhibition


Claudette Johnson: Presence
(September 2023 – January 2024)

A major exhibition of work by British artist Claudette Johnson (born 1959) is now open at The Courtauld Gallery.

A founding member of the Black British Arts Movement, Claudette Johnson is considered one of the most significant figurative artists of her generation. For over 30 years she has created large-scale drawings of Black women and men that are at once intimate and powerful.
Presenting a carefully selected group of major works from across her career, from key early drawings such as the arresting I Came to Dance, 1982, and And I Have My Own Business in This Skin, 1982, alongside recent and new works, this exhibition offers a compelling overview of Johnson’s pioneering career and artistic development.
It will consider how Johnson has directed her approach to representing her subjects over three decades, and how her practice is rooted in the art of the past with The Courtauld’s collection providing a rich context in which to see her work.
Working in a variety of media, ranging from monochrome works in dark pastel to vast sheets brightly coloured in vibrant gouache and watercolour, combined with dramatic use of pose, gaze, and scale, Johnson’s distinctive drawings of friends, relatives, and often herself seek, as the artist puts it, “to tell a different story about our presence in this country”.
This exhibition is the first monographic show of Claudette Johnson’s work at a major public gallery in London and is rooted in the ongoing research, teaching and activities in the field of Black and Diasporic British Art by Dorothy Price, Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art and Critical Race Art History at The Courtauld..
[*The Courtauld]

Taken in the Courtauld

Blues Dance, 2023
Claudette Johnson
Pastel and gouache on paper

This work, made especially for the exhibition, reflects the significance of music within Claudette Johnson's practice. The figure of a woman swaying to a beat is inspired by a photograph that Johnson came across. Blues Dance is imbued with her own memories of being part of the Blue Beat reggae dance scene in the 1980s, when dances were often held in people's homes, as well as referring to the great tradition of Blues music. The title also picks up the colour of the woman's dress, painted with the aim, as Johnson has remarked, 'to make the blues move in the work.' The drawing conveys the feeling of a woman being at one with herself, fully absorbed in the music and moving to her own beat.*

From the exhibition


Claudette Johnson: Presence
(September 2023 – January 2024)

A major exhibition of work by British artist Claudette Johnson (born 1959) is now open at The Courtauld Gallery.

A founding member of the Black British Arts Movement, Claudette Johnson is considered one of the most significant figurative artists of her generation. For over 30 years she has created large-scale drawings of Black women and men that are at once intimate and powerful.
Presenting a carefully selected group of major works from across her career, from key early drawings such as the arresting I Came to Dance, 1982, and And I Have My Own Business in This Skin, 1982, alongside recent and new works, this exhibition offers a compelling overview of Johnson’s pioneering career and artistic development.
It will consider how Johnson has directed her approach to representing her subjects over three decades, and how her practice is rooted in the art of the past with The Courtauld’s collection providing a rich context in which to see her work.
Working in a variety of media, ranging from monochrome works in dark pastel to vast sheets brightly coloured in vibrant gouache and watercolour, combined with dramatic use of pose, gaze, and scale, Johnson’s distinctive drawings of friends, relatives, and often herself seek, as the artist puts it, “to tell a different story about our presence in this country”.
This exhibition is the first monographic show of Claudette Johnson’s work at a major public gallery in London and is rooted in the ongoing research, teaching and activities in the field of Black and Diasporic British Art by Dorothy Price, Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art and Critical Race Art History at The Courtauld..
[*The Courtauld]

Taken in the Courtauld

Claudette Johnson
Pastel and gouache on paper

This is one of Claudette Johnson's most enigmatic works. The young man's striking features, beautifully and sensitively shaped in pastel, draw us in and set us wondering about his identity and story. Adrift on a sea of blue, he might be regally posed on a couch or perched on a makeshift bed. The work has its origins in a photograph by the South African photographer Peter Magubane, which inspired Johnson to transform the composition of that image to create this work. The atmosphere of wistful contemplation she achieves is matched by the title Kind of Blue, taken from Miles Davis famous jazz album.*

From the exhibition


Claudette Johnson: Presence
(September 2023 – January 2024)

A major exhibition of work by British artist Claudette Johnson (born 1959) is now open at The Courtauld Gallery.

A founding member of the Black British Arts Movement, Claudette Johnson is considered one of the most significant figurative artists of her generation. For over 30 years she has created large-scale drawings of Black women and men that are at once intimate and powerful.
Presenting a carefully selected group of major works from across her career, from key early drawings such as the arresting I Came to Dance, 1982, and And I Have My Own Business in This Skin, 1982, alongside recent and new works, this exhibition offers a compelling overview of Johnson’s pioneering career and artistic development.
It will consider how Johnson has directed her approach to representing her subjects over three decades, and how her practice is rooted in the art of the past with The Courtauld’s collection providing a rich context in which to see her work.
Working in a variety of media, ranging from monochrome works in dark pastel to vast sheets brightly coloured in vibrant gouache and watercolour, combined with dramatic use of pose, gaze, and scale, Johnson’s distinctive drawings of friends, relatives, and often herself seek, as the artist puts it, “to tell a different story about our presence in this country”.
This exhibition is the first monographic show of Claudette Johnson’s work at a major public gallery in London and is rooted in the ongoing research, teaching and activities in the field of Black and Diasporic British Art by Dorothy Price, Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art and Critical Race Art History at The Courtauld..
[*The Courtauld]

Taken in the Courtauld

Kind of Blue, 2020
Claudette Johnson
Pastel and gouache on paper

This is one of Claudette Johnson's most enigmatic works. The young man's striking features, beautifully and sensitively shaped in pastel, draw us in and set us wondering about his identity and story. Adrift on a sea of blue, he might be regally posed on a couch or perched on a makeshift bed. The work has its origins in a photograph by the South African photographer Peter Magubane, which inspired Johnson to transform the composition of that image to create this work. The atmosphere of wistful contemplation she achieves is matched by the title Kind of Blue, taken from Miles Davis famous jazz album.*

From the exhibition


Claudette Johnson: Presence
(September 2023 – January 2024)

A major exhibition of work by British artist Claudette Johnson (born 1959) is now open at The Courtauld Gallery.

A founding member of the Black British Arts Movement, Claudette Johnson is considered one of the most significant figurative artists of her generation. For over 30 years she has created large-scale drawings of Black women and men that are at once intimate and powerful.
Presenting a carefully selected group of major works from across her career, from key early drawings such as the arresting I Came to Dance, 1982, and And I Have My Own Business in This Skin, 1982, alongside recent and new works, this exhibition offers a compelling overview of Johnson’s pioneering career and artistic development.
It will consider how Johnson has directed her approach to representing her subjects over three decades, and how her practice is rooted in the art of the past with The Courtauld’s collection providing a rich context in which to see her work.
Working in a variety of media, ranging from monochrome works in dark pastel to vast sheets brightly coloured in vibrant gouache and watercolour, combined with dramatic use of pose, gaze, and scale, Johnson’s distinctive drawings of friends, relatives, and often herself seek, as the artist puts it, “to tell a different story about our presence in this country”.
This exhibition is the first monographic show of Claudette Johnson’s work at a major public gallery in London and is rooted in the ongoing research, teaching and activities in the field of Black and Diasporic British Art by Dorothy Price, Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art and Critical Race Art History at The Courtauld..
[*The Courtauld]

Taken in the Courtauld

Claudette Johnson
Pastel and gouache on paper

This work, made especially for the exhibition, reflects the significance of music within Claudette Johnson's practice. The figure of a woman swaying to a beat is inspired by a photograph that Johnson came across. Blues Dance is imbued with her own memories of being part of the Blue Beat reggae dance scene in the 1980s, when dances were often held in people's homes, as well as referring to the great tradition of Blues music. The title also picks up the colour of the woman's dress, painted with the aim, as Johnson has remarked, 'to make the blues move in the work.' The drawing conveys the feeling of a woman being at one with herself, fully absorbed in the music and moving to her own beat.*

From the exhibition


Claudette Johnson: Presence
(September 2023 – January 2024)

A major exhibition of work by British artist Claudette Johnson (born 1959) is now open at The Courtauld Gallery.

A founding member of the Black British Arts Movement, Claudette Johnson is considered one of the most significant figurative artists of her generation. For over 30 years she has created large-scale drawings of Black women and men that are at once intimate and powerful.
Presenting a carefully selected group of major works from across her career, from key early drawings such as the arresting I Came to Dance, 1982, and And I Have My Own Business in This Skin, 1982, alongside recent and new works, this exhibition offers a compelling overview of Johnson’s pioneering career and artistic development.
It will consider how Johnson has directed her approach to representing her subjects over three decades, and how her practice is rooted in the art of the past with The Courtauld’s collection providing a rich context in which to see her work.
Working in a variety of media, ranging from monochrome works in dark pastel to vast sheets brightly coloured in vibrant gouache and watercolour, combined with dramatic use of pose, gaze, and scale, Johnson’s distinctive drawings of friends, relatives, and often herself seek, as the artist puts it, “to tell a different story about our presence in this country”.
This exhibition is the first monographic show of Claudette Johnson’s work at a major public gallery in London and is rooted in the ongoing research, teaching and activities in the field of Black and Diasporic British Art by Dorothy Price, Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art and Critical Race Art History at The Courtauld..
[*The Courtauld]

Taken in the Courtauld

Kind of Blue, 2020
Claudette Johnson
Pastel and gouache on paper

This is one of Claudette Johnson's most enigmatic works. The young man's striking features, beautifully and sensitively shaped in pastel, draw us in and set us wondering about his identity and story. Adrift on a sea of blue, he might be regally posed on a couch or perched on a makeshift bed. The work has its origins in a photograph by the South African photographer Peter Magubane, which inspired Johnson to transform the composition of that image to create this work. The atmosphere of wistful contemplation she achieves is matched by the title Kind of Blue, taken from Miles Davis famous jazz album.*

From the exhibition


Claudette Johnson: Presence
(September 2023 – January 2024)

A major exhibition of work by British artist Claudette Johnson (born 1959) is now open at The Courtauld Gallery.

A founding member of the Black British Arts Movement, Claudette Johnson is considered one of the most significant figurative artists of her generation. For over 30 years she has created large-scale drawings of Black women and men that are at once intimate and powerful.
Presenting a carefully selected group of major works from across her career, from key early drawings such as the arresting I Came to Dance, 1982, and And I Have My Own Business in This Skin, 1982, alongside recent and new works, this exhibition offers a compelling overview of Johnson’s pioneering career and artistic development.
It will consider how Johnson has directed her approach to representing her subjects over three decades, and how her practice is rooted in the art of the past with The Courtauld’s collection providing a rich context in which to see her work.
Working in a variety of media, ranging from monochrome works in dark pastel to vast sheets brightly coloured in vibrant gouache and watercolour, combined with dramatic use of pose, gaze, and scale, Johnson’s distinctive drawings of friends, relatives, and often herself seek, as the artist puts it, “to tell a different story about our presence in this country”.
This exhibition is the first monographic show of Claudette Johnson’s work at a major public gallery in London and is rooted in the ongoing research, teaching and activities in the field of Black and Diasporic British Art by Dorothy Price, Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art and Critical Race Art History at The Courtauld..
[*The Courtauld]

Taken in the Courtauld

34|52

Embracing the extraordinary.

I emerged into a world of boundless possibilities, adorned with a pair of ethereal wings that glistened with newfound brilliance. These magnificent appendages, unlike any before, bore the promise of flight, freedom, and a connection to the heavens themselves. With every graceful beat, I ascended to the skies, feeling the wind kiss my feathers as I soared above the earthly confines. These wings, an embodiment of rebirth and transformation, carried me to places I had only dreamt of, reminding me that with each fresh beginning, we can redefine our existence and explore uncharted horizons, embracing the extraordinary.

#Fineart #Photography #Conceptual #Conceptualphotography #Surrealism #Finearts #Squere #Photooftheday #Creative #Creativity #Art #Photographers #edit_perfection #Photoshop #Darkart #Project52 #surreal #darkart #morneprinsloophotography #surrealphotography #conceptualart #southafricanphotographer #Nikon #adobephotoshop #liveforthestory

33|52

Loner...

I’m a bit of a loner. A deep thinker. I have a big heart, but I also don’t accept anything less than what I deserve. I’m a dreamer, and very passionate. I see that there is a lot of things wrong with our society, and for some reason I feel like I just don’t fit in. I’m too weird for the “normal” people, and too normal for the weird people. I Just feel like an outsider most of the time…

#Fineart #Photography #Conceptual #Conceptualphotography #Surrealism #Finearts #Squere #Photooftheday #Creative #Creativity #Art #Photographers #edit_perfection #Photoshop #Darkart #Project52 #surreal #darkart #morneprinsloophotography #surrealphotography #conceptualart #southafricanphotographer #Nikon #adobephotoshop #liveforthestory

32|52

Beautiful versions of brokenness...

Beautiful are those whose brokenness gives birth to transformation and wisdom. - John Mark Green

#Fineart #Photography #Conceptual #Conceptualphotography #Surrealism #Finearts #Squere #Photooftheday #Creative #Creativity #Art #Photographers #edit_perfection #Photoshop #Darkart #Project52 #surreal #darkart #morneprinsloophotography #surrealphotography #conceptualart #southafricanphotographer #Nikon #adobephotoshop #liveforthestory

31|52

Enduring Desolation

but can you endure it all until morning comes?

#Fineart #Photography #Conceptual #Conceptualphotography #Surrealism #Finearts #Squere #Photooftheday #Creative #Creativity #Art #Photographers #edit_perfection #Photoshop #Darkart #Project52 #surreal #darkart #morneprinsloophotography #surrealphotography #conceptualart #southafricanphotographer #Nikon #adobephotoshop #liveforthestory

30|52

Snow White

From this slumber she shall wake, when true love's kiss the spell shall break...

#Fineart #Photography #Conceptual #Conceptualphotography #Surrealism #Finearts #Squere #Photooftheday #Creative #Creativity #Art #Photographers #edit_perfection #Photoshop #Darkart #Project52 #surreal #promotingpassionchallenge #morneprinsloophotography #surrealphotography #conceptualart #southafricanphotographer #Nikon #adobephotoshop #liveforthestory

29|52

The Cleansing...

We need deep cleansing of our thoughts on and often so that we can recharge our energy for our own health, happiness and purpose.

- Kishore Bansal

#Fineart #Photography #Conceptual #Conceptualphotography #Surrealism #Finearts #Squere #Photooftheday #Creative #Creativity #Art #Photographers #edit_perfection #Photoshop #Darkart #Project52 #surreal #promotingpassionchallenge #morneprinsloophotography #surrealphotography #conceptualart #southafricanphotographer #Nikon #adobephotoshop #liveforthestory