KLOMPCHING LAUNCH
August 26th, 2009 adminInvite for the exhibition at Klompching gallery, New York. If you happen to be in town, pop by and say hello….
ENGLISH AT LEISURE, WEEKEND MAGAZINE
August 21st, 2009 adminJust wanted to give you a head’s up that a selection of photographs from We English will be published in this Saturday’s Weekend Magazine in the Guardian. Check it out if you have the opportunity.
And if you didn’t see it, there’s a piece on their website here and a slideshow of images here.
AND HERE IT IS
August 19th, 2009 adminAfter two years of (mostly) hard graft, the end is finally in sight. I received the first bound copy of We English from the printers last week and the rest are in a container somewhere in Europe on their way to bookshops. It’s a strange feeling, one of relief (that’s it’s nearly all over), of jubilation (great to have a second book out there), of pleasure (I like it), of gratitude (too many people to mention – although a special shout to Mrs. R), of anxiety (will anyone like it?) and of anticipation (maybe they will!).
So here it is, the final edit of 56 photographs (you can see them all on the gallery page of this website):
© Simon Roberts, 2007-2008
You’ll notice that I’ve now updated the website with a couple of new pages detailing various exhibitions and book signings, as well as the special edition box set (more on that later). Do take a look.
Anyway, my job is nearly done (on this project at least). I hope you enjoy the work and I look forward to hearing your comments in the months to come. I will be continuing with the blog for a few more months so do stick around.
WE ENGLISH LAUNCH
August 7th, 2009 adminI’m thrilled to announce that We English will officially launch at Klompching Gallery in New York on Thursday 10th September.
Keynes Country Park Beach, Shornecote, Gloucestershire, 11th May 2008 © Simon Roberts
This will be my second solo show at the gallery, following on from Motherland, which formed the gallery’s inaugural exhibition in October 2007. Signed books will be available and I will also be doing an artist talk, details to follow shortly.
Opening reception: 10th September, 6-8pm
Gallery address: 111 Front Street, Suite 206, Brooklyn, NY 11201. See the map here.
Gallery hours: Wed- Sat, 11am – 6pm Extended Hours: 1st Thursdays, 11am – 8:30pm. Private appointments available upon request.
For more information- tel: +1 212 796 2070 or email: info@klompching.com
The exhibition runs until 23rd October.
Slightly closer to home, a selection of prints will also be on show at The Photographers’ Gallery, London from 1st September – 18th October. I will also be doing an artist talk and book signing on 30th September. Details of which can be found here.
ARTIST TALK ANNOUNCED
July 6th, 2009 adminJust wanted to let you know that I’ll be delivering the first artist talk about We English at The Photographers’ Gallery on 30th September. The talk will be followed by a book signing.
Tickets are limited, so book early to avoid disappointment! Details here-
HOME FOR GOOD, NYPF 2009
April 29th, 2009 adminThe first sneak preview of work from We English will be on display at the New York Photo Festival during May.
A selection of four photographs will be exhibited in a group show curated by Jon Levy, publisher of Foto 8, entitled ‘Home For Good’. The exhibition will also feature the work of Lorraine Gruppe, Tim Hetherington, Chris Killip, Venetia Dearden, Seba Kurtis, Louie Palu, and David Gray.
As Levy writes “Home for Good will explore the idea that storytelling begins at home. We will be employing documentary photography in its many forms – the family album, first day cover, film stills, portraits, magazine layouts and even as the basis for fiction – as the most potent method of transmission. The exhibition explores the ways that photographs have been, and continue to be, used to connect people with issues, emotions, and events. The photographers chosen to represent this theme and the formats they have employed embody the wide range of tools and ideas photography uses in its dual purpose of communicating public fact and personal feeling. If it succeeds, the show will allow a space for contemplating some of the issues we face collectively, before you head back, safely, we hope, to wherever you call home.”
And these are the images-
Devil’s Dyke, South Downs, East Sussex, 6th March 2008 © Simon Roberts
Cotswold Water Park, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, 11th May 2008 © Simon Roberts
Tandridge Golf Course, Oxted, Surrey, 2nd April 2008 © Simon Roberts
Holkham National Nature Reserve, Norfolk, 18th February 2008 © Simon Roberts
“The work on show is art by its best definitions, and the photographers have been chosen both for the subjects that they take on and their ability to address their inquiries through strong photography. The work in Home For Good examines the tensions between being ‘at home’- your homeland, your new home, or in your own skin, and what it means to be far away from home, a migrant, a soldier, when home becomes a distant object. How is ‘home’ imagined? War destablizes the idea of home, putting it to contest, making it abstract, putting it at risk. ”
The Festival runs from 13th – 17th May at various venues around New York’s DUMBO district. You can find more information here.
Additional exhibitions are curated by William A.Ewing, Jody Quon and Chris Boot (who is publishing We English).
POLYARNYE NOCHI AT FORMAT09
February 24th, 2009 adminApologies for this unrelated plug, but my Polyarnye Nochi series, which was all shot in and around Russia’s Kola Peninsula, will be exhibited in the upcoming Format Festival in Derby, which officially opens next Thursday 5th March.
The theme this year is PHOTOCINEMA, which is described by curator Louise Clements in the following way:
“From film still to still film the theme for FORMAT09 is positioned in the half-light between these two narrative and technical sensibilities, colliding – fact with fiction, historicism with fantasy, and reality with the cinematic. The festival contains the work of artists who extend the ‘still’ image in time through the use of photo-narrative sequencing, directed or documentary photography and moving image from single still to feature film.”
Unforgiving and dramatic winters have often been regarded as one of Russia’s most defining characteristics. A Russian winter is redolent both of great hardship but also great beauty and for centuries it has been romanticised in the country’s painting, music and cinema. A continuation of my exploration of contemporary Russian society and partly inspired by Russian cinema, Polyarnye Nochi explores the winter landscapes of Northern Russia during a period known as Polar Nights, when the region is shrouded in darkness nearly 24 hours a day. To find out more about the work, you can download an article by the writer Alexandra Lennox, entitled ‘The influence, inspiration and interplay of Simon Robert’s Polyarnye Nochi and Russian cinema,’ here.
This will be the first major exhibition of the series and will be exhibited in the main programme in the Quad Gallery along with work by Hannah Starkey, Muge, Zhang Xiao, Gregory Crewdson, William Eggleston, Cindy Sherman, Jonas Mekas, Eric Baudelaire, David Lynch, Mark Read, Nichola Dove, Bethany Murray, Magnum Cinema, Pang Xuan.
As part of the festival I will be conducting a day’s seminar on 25th March from 10.30am -4.30pm, which is open to all practicing photographers. The seminar will focus on my career development, strategies for realising personal projects, practical advice and portfolio feedback. Then in the evening I’ll be delivering an Artist Talk where I’ll discuss the series and it’s interplay with Russian cinema. It will be followed by a screening of Andrei Zvyagintsev’s superb film The Return (2003).
Both events can be booked through QUAD Box Office on 01332 290606 or by going to the Derby Quad website here.
RPS LECTURE SERIES
February 23rd, 2009 admin
Every year the Royal Photographic Society promotes a series of regional lectures, supporting events for members across the UK. The Society have asked me to be this year’s speaker and I will be delivering seven lectures across the country where I’ll be presenting and discussing photographs from Motherland and We English.
If you’re interested in coming along to one of the talks, you can download a pdf with more details here.
The next lectures will be-
Bath, Sunday 8th March
Bovey Tracey, Dorset – Saturday 14th March
West Maling, Kent – Saturday 10th April
Edinburgh, Scotland – Satuday 16th May
East Anglia – Sunday 18th October
I was interviewed by Etholle George this morning on BBC Radio Essex. Etholle put out a request to her listeners for ideas and events happening in Essex this week. I’ll post up up any interesting ones later.
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MOTHERLAND PODCAST
May 2nd, 2008 adminYou can now listen to a podcast of my talk ‘rePresenting Russia’, which I delivered at the National Media Museum last week, online here. The talk was part of the Museum’s ‘Dramatic Reality: Photojournalism and Documentary Photography Today’ symposium day. You can hear all the talks and subscribe to the museum’s podcast here.