Simon Roberts

Simon Roberts

Context

Simon Roberts (b.1974) is a British photographer whose work deals with our relationship to landscape and notions of identity and belonging.The way that he incorporates in with British culture is his book and exhibition called We English, he travelled throughout England in 2007 for a year using a large format camera capturing people at play, and exploring the relationship between people and the places they visit. Photographing ordinary people engaged in diverse pastimes, Roberts aims to show a populace with a profound attachment to its local environment and homeland. One element  of Roberts work that I have incorporated within my work is his idea of using the people within the landscapes as assets, he shows their belonging within the image. By looking at his shoot titled We English it relates to my project as he documents the British Culture in a landscape format.

This image was taken at Skegness Beach, Lincolnshire, 12th August 2007. In this photograph we can see people carrying out different activities at the beach, the sea and the sky have merged into one and it doesn’t seem as though the weather is particularly good. The weather gives the image more of a darker and duller atmosphere. From the image we can see that there is a mixture of older and younger people, this suggests that the environment brings different people from different backgrounds and ages together. Without the people in the image Roberts wouldn’t have been able to develop his ideas of identity and belonging. The people in the picture have been given the identity and belonging because they are the main features of the image. By photographing the people in this way it links to the theme of British Culture as it shows the love the British people have for the beach even in colder weather conditions. His images differ from Martin Parr because he doesn't use the saturated effect like he does. 

This image was taken Keynes Country Park Beach, Shornecote, Gloucestershire, 11th May 2008. In this image we can see different types of people sitting around on some grass. The way the people are dressed suggests to us that the weather was good. In the distance we can see smoke suggesting that someone is having a barbeque. All the activities taking place in this image are all stereotypical activities performed by British people in the summer. The notion of identity and belonging is visible within this image because the people are given an identity as British people and their belonging is associated with summer activities. There are various signifiers within this image that indicate to us that these people are British, there is a couple in the middle with a 20 pack bag of crisps which is ironic because there is only two of them, we associate British people with eating unhealthy foods. Also, we see that majority of the people are wearing no clothes but they still are wearing their socks, which is also ironic because they are on the grass. Overall, Simon Roberts relates to the topic of British Culture as he documents the lives of British people using landscape photography.   

This image was taken on Ladies' Day at Aintree Racecourse Merseyside, 4th April 2008. In this image we can see a group of smartly dressed people instantly symbolising that these people may be of a higher class because of the way they are dressed. We can also see lots more people in the background in the stands showing that this event is extremely popular. Living in England we already understand the popularity of the event as it is broadcasted on live TV. The rubbish along the floor also gives us the impression that this is a popular ever but that people also heavily drink there due to the beer bottles and plastic cups along the floor. This represents British Culture as drinking is often associated with British people. Within Roberts' images there are always certain people that we can focus on, in this image I am immediately drawn to the woman sitting down amongst all the other people that are standing. This could suggest to us that she doesn't care about the racing or she has had too much to drink. Also, I am also drawn to the two older woman in the left hand corner as they are smiling and laughing insinuating that they are enjoying their time unlike the other girl, this could show the difference between the younger and the older generation.

This image was taken at Sunderland v Liverpool, Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, 16th August 2008. In this image we can see the football fans walking either towards or away from the stadium. The expressions on their faces and their body language shows they could be walking away from the stadium with a loss. From researching this game it is revealed that Sunderland lost to Liverpool which explains their body language. By looking at the body language of the people we can explain their emotion, all the fans are walking with their heads down. The man at the front has his hand on the child's head which could be seen as a comforting action. Without these fans in the image we wouldn't have come to this conclusion and the landscape would have had a completely different meaning relating to the fact that Roberts uses people with the image to show their belonging and use them as assets to the image.

This image was taken on Westminster Bridge during the London Men's Marathon. In the image we can see lots of men running in a direction where they are all turing around to go the way they came. The people all merge into one in this image because there are so many runners and so many people in the crowd that it is hard to distinguish the difference. The fact that all these people merge into one show that maybe Simon Roberts was trying to portray that although there are people from all around the world in this picture all people are equal and they can all come together for this event. It can also represent the population within London and the amount of cultures there are. The main focus within this image can be considered as the Big Ben and parliament but because there are people within the image used as features they become the main focus. 

Influence and Summary

Simon Roberts documents British Culture in a landscape effect which is the same conceptual idea as mine. I also took the idea of his where he uses people as features rather than cutting them out of the image. Without the people in his images the idea of British Culture would not be expressed as his idea is to show how the views of a landscape bring people together. 

This image can be related to Simon Roberts images because it includes a landscape that has brought people together. The landscape shows the work ethic within London because we are faced with office buildings and building work. The people present in the foreground of the image show how people are brought together by this landscape because there are tourists taking pictures but also people just walking past to get to work. The people within this landscape all have their own story as to why they are there. Simon Roberts included people in his work as features which is what I have tried to do because they add a meaning to British Culture and show the types of people we can find in these areas.

I decided to follow Simon Roberts in my shoots because I believe he links more closely to my work than any other photographer that I have researched. The majority of my images link to Simon Roberts but in some of my images I have explored the landscape aspect further and haven't included people within them, just focused on the landscape itself.

In my shoot around St. James' Park and Buckingham Palace I explored the landscapes deeper and focused on them rather than trying to include features like Simon Roberts does. This image still relates to the landscapes that Roberts took because it expresses British culture to an extent. By incorporating these landscape images and images with people in them it expresses British Culture as it shows the landscapes and the people that are naturally found within these landscapes. Simon Roberts has been a significant influence on my work because I have taken his idea of expressing British Culture through landscapes.