[Photo provided to China Daily]

Ballen says each picture needs thousands of steps for preparation, even though the shooting takes only 15 minutes sometimes.

To set up a backdrop for his photos, he visited numerous flea markets in different parts of the world, hunting for things he wanted for his filming.

Prior to his Beijing show, he spent days visiting flea markets here looking for stuff he needed to build his "set" for the show.

"I'm a world expert on flea markets now. But it's hard to find something unique," he says, revealing a sense of humor, which can sometimes be seen in his works.

On the theme of his Beijing show, he says it is through "absurdity" that he understands life. Life is meaningless, he says philosophically. No matter what we do, we can't change our destinies.

Cai, the curator, says Ballen expresses the workings of the human mind, a consistent style that the photographer has pursued in his pictures to reflect people's thoughts.

Ballen's strong love for black-and-white images goes back 50 years to when he first used cameras to take portraits of people. The simple aesthetic approach followed through his career.

"It's not simply black and white. There are lots of grays in between," he says.

If you go

9:30 am-5:30 pm, through Sept 23. Art Museum, Central Academy of Fine Arts, 8 Huajiadi South Street, Chaoyang district, Beijing. 010-6477-1575.

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