‘Rosemberg’ is a Spain-based digital and conceptual artist best known for the AI-driven series Forbidden Toys. (Photograph: Courtesy of the Roger Ballen Centre for Photography) 
The Roger Ballen Centre for Photographic Arts has chosen a rather provocative subject for its inaugural exhibition. PSYCHOPOMP! Follow the Unconscious, curated by the German artist and theorist Boris Eldagsen, brings together work from more than 20 international artists who employ artificial intelligence as an instrument of “psychological inquiry”.
“The unexplored power of AI lies in its ability to visualise invisible inner states – using the machine not for imitation, but introspection,” Eldagsen says. “Working with AI becomes a journey inward, a process of making the unconscious more conscious, of confronting what it means to be human.”
Drawing on Jungian psychology, the exhibition explores what Eldagsen calls the “shadow”: those hidden impulses, fears and memories the ego often represses. From surreal to unsettling, the imagery evokes what Jung described as “active imagination”, inviting viewers to confront what they might otherwise overlook or deny.
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/IanHaig_HumanContagions-1.jpg "Ian Haig, Human Contagions. (Photo: Courtesy of the Roger Ballen Centre for Photography)")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/64x80_Crudguts-207_new.jpg "(Photo: Courtesy of the Roger Ballen Centre for Photography)")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/56x70_ArmindadaSIlva_ThingsWeDontSay.jpg "Arminda da Silva’s Things We Don’t Say. (Photo: Courtesy of the Roger Ballen Centre for Photography)")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/50x625_Alsoguppyme_See_No_Truth.png "Alsoguppyme, See No Truth. (Photo: Courtesy of the Roger Ballen Centre for Photography)")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/50x50cm_RashedHaq_Human-Trials-5P7-2.jpg "Rashed Haq, Human Trials. (Photo: Courtesy of the Roger Ballen Centre for Photography)")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/45x30_snadwich_oh-hi-mark.png "Snadwich, Oh Hi Mark. (Photo: Courtesy of the Roger Ballen Centre for Photography)")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/35x40cm_eldagsen_MIRROR_Me-Me-Me_2024.jpg "Boris Eldagsen, MIRROR Me Me Me (2024). (Photo: Courtesy of the Roger Ballen Centre for Photography)")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/30x40_RoelandHeijne_MistofTheSelf.jpg "Roeland Heijne, Mist of The Self. (Photo: Courtesy of the Roger Ballen Centre for Photography)")
General admission to the Roger Ballen Centre for Photography is R50. A combined ticket granting access to both the Photography Centre and the Inside Out Centre for the Arts is available for R150. Entry is free to the public on Saturday, 6 September 2025.