Searching in the recesses of the mind and at the edges of human society, the work of American photographer Roger Ballen has garnered a reputation for the disturbing and the grotesque. This profile of the Johannesburg-based image-maker—part of TateShots, a series of documentaries from the Tate that explores contemporary art and artists—delves into Ballen's private universe and his creative practice, where he has spent many years documenting people living at the fringes of society, and beyond.

Speaking about her encounter with a photographer whose work has pushed increasingly into the abstract and the absurd, filmmaker Marie-Therese Hildenbrandt explains: “The idea of this film was to capture Ballen’s unique spirit as an artist and as a human being. We wanted Roger to give us a tour through his mind in order to provide us with a deeper insight into the beauty of his art and the process of capturing what can’t be seen.”