Simon Roberts (photographer)

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

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),^{[citation needed]} City Councils (2011),^[9] Landscapes Innocence & Experience (2011), Star Chambers (2011), Credit Crunch Lexicon (2011–2012),^{[citation needed]} Let This Be a Sign (2011–2012),^[10] Pierdom (2011–2012),^[11] The Last Moment (2011–2012) and XXX Olympiad (2012).^{[citation needed]}

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. First edition, 2010, edition of 3000; second edition, 2013, edition of 2000; also available for download.^{[n 3]}
• This Is a Sign. Self published, 2012. 32-page, limited to 2000 copies.^{[17][n 4]}
• Pierdom. Stockport: Dewi Lewis Publishing, 2013. ISBN 978-1-907893-40-7^[11]

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^{[citation needed]}
• Visions of Our Time, Deutsche Börse Art Collection, c/o Berlin, 2009^{[citation needed]}
• Polyarnye Nochi, Crane Kalman, Brighton, UK, 2010^[20]
• Motherland/Homeland, EX3 Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea, Firenze, 2010^{[citation needed]}
• The Election Project, House of Commons, London, 2010^{[citation needed]}
• We English, National Media Museum, Bradford, UK, 2010^{[citation needed]}
• 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^{[citation needed]}
• Motherland, Robert Morat Galerie, Hamburg, 2011^[22]
• We English, Light House gallery, Wolverhampton, UK, 2012^{[citation needed]}
• We English, Pluie d’Images Festival, Brest, France, 2012^{[citation needed]}
• 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]

Public collections

• Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, UK^[28]
• Birmingham Central Library, Birmingham, UK^[29]
• Art Collection Deutsche Börse, Frankfurt, Germany^[30]
• George Eastman House, Rochester, USA
• Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, USA^[31]
• National Media Museum, Bradford, UK
• Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Missouri, USA^[32]
• Wilson Centre for Photography, London, UK
• Parliamentary Art Collection, London, UK^[33]

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/.
4. ↑ Its web page is simoncroberts.com/shop/this-is-a-sign-newspaper/.

References

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