Balarama Heller (b. 1979, Friendship, New York) is an artist who lives and works between New York City and Mexico City. Working across photography, sculpture, holography and drawing, he explores intersections of scientific observation, myth, ritual and perception, developing a visual language rooted in archetypal symbols and primordial forms. He received his BFA from the Art Institute of Boston and then worked at Magnum Photos in New York. He later crewed ocean-going tugboats in the U.S. Merchant Marine and lived in Istanbul, developing long-term projects on ritual and transcendence across Eastern Europe, the Middle East and India, before returning to New York in 2010. His 2025 book "Sacred Place" was shortlisted for the Paris Photo–Aperture First Book Award. Recent exhibitions include "Poetic Record" at Princeton's Hurley Gallery. His work is held by The New York Public Library and The Bunker Art Space in West Palm Beach.
