Simon Roberts (photographer)

Simon Roberts
Born	1974 (age 41–42) London
Nationality	British
Occupation	Photographer
Website	simoncroberts.com

Simon Roberts (born 5 February 1974) is a British photographer whose work has been exhibited and published internationally.

Life and work

Roberts studied a BA Hons in Human Geography at the University of Sheffield (1996).^[1] He currently lives in Brighton, England.^[2]

Between July 2004 and August 2005 Roberts travelled throughout Russia,^[3] taking in 65 destinations from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok.^[4] This resulted in the book and exhibition Motherland and the exhibition Polyarnye Nochi.

Between August 2007 and September 2008 Roberts travelled throughout England in a motor home using a large format camera capturing people at play, and exploring the relationship between people and the places they visit. This resulted in the book and exhibition We English.^[5][6]

Roberts was commissioned by the UK parliament Speaker's Advisory Committee on Works of Art as the official Election Artist to document campaigning activity around the country in the run-up to the 2010 General Election.^[7] Roberts travelled the country, again in a motor home, using an old plate camera to photograph from the elevated position of its roof.^[8] This resulted in The Election Project touring exhibition and The Election Project Newspaper publication (which was made available free to download in 2012).

Roberts has also made other series of work: Russian Army (2004–2008), Ramzan Kadyrov (2006), Russian Portraits (2004–2008) (some of which appear in Motherland), Liverpool Landscapes (2009), British Olympians, Polyarnye Nochi (translation: polar nights), City Councils (2011),^[9] Landscapes Innocence & Experience (2011), Star Chambers (2011), Credit Crunch Lexicon (2011–2012), Let This Be a Sign (2011–2012),^[10] Pierdom (2011–2012),^[11] The Last Moment (2011–2012) and XXX Olympiad (2012).

In recognition of his work, Roberts has received several awards. In 2007 he received the Royal Photographic Society's Vic Odden Award (2007) - offered for a notable achievement in the art of photography by a British photographer.^[12] He won the Ian Parry Scholarship for young photographers in 1998.^[13] In 2010 We English won third prize in the World Press Photo contest in the Daily Life - Stories category.^[14] In 2013 Roberts received an Honorary Fellowship from the Royal Photographic Society which is given 'to distinguished persons having, from their position or attainments, an intimate connection with the science or fine art of photography or the application thereof'.^[15]

In 'The Observer Critics' Review of 2011' Sean O'Hagan included the exhibition of We English at Flowers East in London in his top 10 photography exhibitions of the year.^[16]

Publications

• Motherland. London: Chris Boot, 2007. ISBN 978-1-905712-03-8.^{[n 1]}
• We English. London: Chris Boot, 2009. ISBN 978-1-905712-14-4.^{[n 2]}
• The Election Project Newspaper. 32-page Berliner format. Self-published.^{[n 3]}
  • First edition, 2010. Edition of 3000 copies.
  • Second edition, 2013. Edition of 2000 copies.
• This Is a Sign. Self-published, 2012. 32-page, Edition of 2000 copies.^{[17][n 4]}
• Pierdom. Stockport: Dewi Lewis Publishing, 2013. ISBN 978-1-907893-40-7.^[11]
• Credit Crunch Postcards. According to Roberts's website, "A pack of original postcards featuring different extracts of text from Simon's Credit Crunch Lexicon, launched to coincide with the exhibition 'Show Me The Money: The Image of Finance 1700 to the present' at the Northern Gallery of Contemporary Art."
• Landscapes of Innocence & Experience. Eton: Verey Gallery, 2014. Features work from various series including We English, The Election Project, XXX Olympiad and Pierdom. With an essay by Martin Caiger-Smith, "Settlement". Catalogue for an exhibition, "Landscapes of Innocence and Experience", held at the Verey Gallery, Eton College, UK, January–April 2015.
• Boxing Boys: Britain 1997—1999. Southport: Café Royal, 2015. Edition of 200.

Publications with contributions by Roberts

• Generation ’74. Kaunas, Lithuania: Kaunas Photo festival, 2015. ISBN 978-609-8032-10-9. Edited by Ángel Luis González and Irina Chmyreva. Includes profiles of and interview transcripts with eleven European photographers born in 1974: Simon Roberts, Nick Hannes, Kirill Golovchenko, Przemyslaw Pokrycki, Tomáš Pospěch, Mindaugas Kavaliauskas, Vitus Saloshanka, Gintaras Česonis, Borut Peterlin, Pekka Niittyvirta and Davide Monteleone. Edition of 500 copies.

Exhibitions

• This Land Is Your Land, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, 2008.^[18]
• Unseen, Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai, 2008.^[19]
• Motherland, Belfast Exposed, N. Ireland, 2008.
• Visions of Our Time, Deutsche Börse Art Collection, Berlin, 2009.
• Polyarnye Nochi, Crane Kalman, Brighton, UK, 2010.^[20]
• Motherland/Homeland, EX3 Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea, Firenze, 2010.
• The Election Project, House of Commons, London, 2010.
• We English, National Media Museum, Bradford, UK, 2010.
• We English, Klompching Gallery, New York, 2010.^[21]
• We English, Robert Morat Galerie, Hamburg, 2010, 2011.^[22]
• We English & The Election Project, mac Gallery, Birmingham, UK, 2011.
• Motherland, Robert Morat Galerie, Hamburg, 2011.^[22]
• We English, Light House gallery, Wolverhampton, UK, 2012.
• We English, Pluie d’Images Festival, Brest, France, 2012.
• Let This Be a Sign, Swiss Cottage Gallery, London, 2012.^[10][23]
• Pierdom, Flowers Gallery, London, 2013.^[24]
• Pierdom, Klompching Gallery, New York, 2013.^[25]
• Pierdom, Robert Morat Galerie, Hamburg.^[22][26]
• Polyarnye Nochi, Brighton Dome, Brighton, UK, 2014.^[27]
• Landscape Studies of a Small Island, Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow, 2014. Includes work from Motherland, We English, The Election Project, Pierdom and other series.^[28] Curated by Karen McQuaid from The Photographers' Gallery, London. Part of the Britain in Focus theme of Photobiennale 2014, the UK-Russia Year of Culture.

Collections

Roberts's work is held in the following collections:

• Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, UK.^[29]
• Birmingham Central Library, Birmingham, UK.^[30]
• Art Collection Deutsche Börse, Frankfurt, Germany.^[31]
• George Eastman House, Rochester, USA.
• Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, USA.^[32]
• National Media Museum, Bradford, UK.
• Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Missouri, USA.^[33]
• Wilson Centre for Photography, London, UK.
• Parliamentary Art Collection, London, UK.^[34]

Notes

1. Its website is motherlandbook.com.
2. Its website is we-english.co.uk.
3. Its website is theelectionproject.co.uk/blog/election-project-newspaper and simoncroberts.com/shop/election-project-newspaper/ where it was available to download.
4. Its web page is simoncroberts.com/shop/this-is-a-sign-newspaper/.

References

1. "Wish you were here – Simon Roberts", George Eastman House. Accessed 19 January 2014.
2. "Lightstalkers profile of Simon Roberts". Retrieved 2010-02-01.
3. "Motherland – Simon Roberts". Retrieved 2011-12-23. The work is a result of Simon’s travels throughout Russia between July 2004 and August 2005
4. Viv Groskop (17 March 2007). "In pictures - Simon Roberts's collection of photographs of Russia, Motherland, is unexpectable, says Viv Groskop". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 2011-12-23. Roberts took in 65 destinations on an 18-month trip from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok.
5. "Audio slideshow: The English at play". BBC News. 23 April 2011. Retrieved 2011-12-24. Brighton-based photographer Simon Roberts travelled the length and breadth of England in a motorhome for his book We English - in which he tries to capture a nation at play, and explore the relationship between people and the places they visit.
6. "Simon Roberts: We English Touring Exhibition" (PDF). Retrieved 2011-12-24.
7. "Photographer Simon Roberts is official election artist". BBC News. 2010-03-20. Retrieved 2010-03-20.
8. "Election 2010: South Yorkshire". BBC News. 31 March 2010. Retrieved 2011-12-24. During the 17 days of official campaigning, Simon travelled the country in a motor home. Using the old plate camera meant I could produce pictures which had a different feeling. They were always taken from an elevated position - the roof of the motor home
9. Simon Roberts (2011-04-29). "Days of Reckoning". Retrieved 2011-12-25.
10. "Festival Diary - Let This Be a Sign - Simon Roberts". London Festival of Photography. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
11. Teicher, Jordan (9 December 2013). "Britain’s Beloved Victorian-Era Pleasure Piers". Slate (magazine). Retrieved 9 December 2013. Simon Roberts became interested in the piers after the Telegraph commissioned him to photograph some of them for a feature a few years ago. ... The results of Roberts’ research are now on display in an exhibition, “Pierdom,” at Klompching Gallery in Brooklyn, N.Y. Roberts spent three years photographing all the surviving piers on the British coastline ... “Pierdom” is on view at Klompching Gallery through Dec. 21. You can purchase Pierdom, a collection of the pier photographs, on Roberts’ website.
12. http://www.rps.org/annual-awards/Vic-Odden-Award
13. "Winners". Ian Parry Scholarship. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
14. "World Press Photo - List of winners 2010". Retrieved 2010-02-13.
15. http://www.rps.org/annual-awards/Honorary-Fellowships
16. O'Hagan, Sean (11 December 2011). "Series: Observer critics' review of 2011 - The best photography of 2011: Sean O'Hagan's choice". The Observer. Retrieved 2012-01-08. Simon Roberts: We English Flowers East, London
17. "Simon Roberts: This is a Sign". The Photographers' Gallery. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
18. MOCP Chicago 2008 MOCP.org Retrieved on 2014-01-18
19. MOCA Shanghai 2008 mocashanghai.org Retrieved on 2014-01-18
20. Davies, Lucy (8 January 2010). "Polyarnye Nochi". London: The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 9 January 2014. Simon Roberts' Polyarnye Nochi series, currently showing at Crane Kalman in Brighton ... will run from 4th January to 7th February 2010
21. List of past exhibitions, Klompching Gallery. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
22. Page about exhibitions by Roberts, Robert Morat Galerie. Accessed 19 January 2014.
23. Coomes, Phil (24 May 2012). "Let this be a sign". BBC. Retrieved 9 January 2013.
24. Smith, Amy (29 August 2013). "Art Diary: Sea here". Camden Review. Retrieved 7 September 2013. Simon Roberts’ latest collection of photographs takes the viewer on a trip along the piers around the British Isles. He spent three years cataloguing the 58 existing piers and those that no longer exist, ... A selection of the images form a solo show at the Flowers Gallery starting on September 10. The exhibition will also launch Roberts’ new publication that includes the photographs, map and potted history of each pier.
25. "ArtSlant - Friday 8th November - Saturday 21st December, Klompching Gallery, Simon Roberts". ArtSlant. Retrieved 28 October 2013. Simon Roberts Pierdom Klompching Gallery 111 Front Street, Suite 206 Brooklyn, NY 11201 Friday 8th November – Saturday 21st December Opening: Thursday 7th November
26. Exhibition notice, Paris Photo. Accessed 19 January 2014.
27. Exhibition notice for Polyarnye Nochi, Brighton Dome. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
28. "Simon Roberts: Landscape Studies of a Small Island". Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
29. "Collection News", p.36 within Pallant House Gallery Magazine 25, here at Issuu.com. Accessed 11 February 2013.
30. Terry Grimley, "A photographic collection to be proud of", Birmingham Post, 19 November 2009. On the web, divided into three pages; see the third of these. Accessed 11 February 2013.
31. Simon Roberts in the website of the collection. Accessed 11 February 2013.
32. Search results for "roberts", MoCP collection catalogue. Accessed 11 February 2013.
33. Names starting with "R", collections catalogue, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Accessed 11 February 2013.
34. "Photographer Simon Roberts selected as 2010 British election artist", parliament.uk, 22 March 2010. Accessed 12 February 2013.

External links

• Official website
• Simon Roberts' blog about the making of his series We English
• List of photographic series by Simon Roberts at DMB Creatives
• The Election Project website
• Interview with Simon Roberts at The Online Photographer
• Video interview with Simon Roberts at Lens Culture
• Audio-visual slideshow interview with Simon Roberts at BBC News Online