Balarama Heller (b. 1979, New York) received his BFA from the Art Institute of Boston. He interned at Magnum Photos NY before joining the U.S. Merchant Marines where he crewed ocean going tugboats. Thereafter, Heller lived in Istanbul, photographing long form projects concerning ritual and transcendence in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Heller resettled in New York City in 2010. Recent group shows include the Foundry Art Centre and the 2015 Aperture Summer Open. In 2014, he published his first book, “Into and Through”. Balarama’s photographic practice currently examines how archetypal views from the natural world can function as entry points into hypnogogic states.