― ARTIST TALKS AT THE ROYAL ACADEMY ―
17 October, 18:00h
→ by SIMON ROBERTS
→ at Aula Pand, Royal Academy, Mutsaardstraat 31
Simon Roberts (born 5 February 1974) is a British photographer. His work deals with peoples' relationship to landscape and notions of identity and belonging. For this lecture, he will give an overview on his work.
→ FREE entrance ― BE WELCOME!
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Roberts' books include Motherland (2007), We English (2009), Pierdom (2013), and Merrie Albion (2017). His work has been exhibited internationally. The Royal Photographic Society has awarded him an Honorary Fellowship and its Vic Odden Award, and he has won third prize in a World Press Photo contest. Roberts studied a BA Hons in Human Geography at the University of Sheffield (1996). He currently lives in Brighton, England.
Between July 2004 and August 2005 Roberts travelled throughout Russia, taking in 65 destinations from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok. 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. In 'The Observer Critics' Review of 2011' Sean O'Hagan included the We English exhibition at Flowers East in London in his top 10 photography exhibitions of the year. Parr and Badger include the book We English in the third volume of their photobook history.
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. Roberts travelled the country, again in a motor home, using an old plate camera to photograph from the elevated position of its roof. 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: Polyarnye Nochi (polar nights), Star Chambers (2011), Landscapes of Innocence & Experience (2011), Credit Crunch Lexicon (2011–2012),Let This Be a Sign (2011–2012), Pierdom (2011–2012), The Last Moment (2011–2012) and The London Olympiad (2012).