“For almost three years now I’ve been obsessed with the work of South African photographer Roger Ballen. His photos act as a propeller for me in my writing. There is a spookiness to his work that invigorates me. He has a somewhat consistent vocabulary of objects in his photographs: small animals, primitive or childlike wall drawings, smudged human beings that seem to be the embodiment of contrast, discarded and broken down household items. I often start a story or chapter with one of his photographs and allow that image to set the tone for what I’m working on. I let those objects show up and even reoccur. I try to get into the head of the subject and imagine it a new context. I can’t imagine what my writing would look like right now without his images in my head.”
—Jac Jemc, author of My Only Wife (Dzanc Books, 2012)