As part of one of my upcoming exhibition of We English photographs at the National Media Museum (12th March – 8th September), and as discussed previously on the blog, we will be including photographs from the Museum’s own collection, introducing the English at leisure from a historical perspective.
Since September last year I’ve been working closely with Ruth Kitchin, Collections Assistant, on the selection and curation of works for the exhibition. Also involved was Stephen Daniels (Professor of Cultural Geography at Nottingham Trent University and author of the essay ‘The English Outdoors’ from We English) who was invited to the Museum to discuss the development of the selection. Here is a short film, shot in the Museum archives on 24th November last year, when we all came together to discuss some of the considerations for the selection.
Since 2005 Stephen Daniels has been Director of the Arts and Humanities Research Council’s programme in Landscape and Environment. He has published widely on the history and theory of landscape imagery and design. His books include The Iconography of Landscape (Cambridge University Press, 1988) co-edited with Denis Cosgrove, Paul Sandy: Picturing Britain (Royal Academy of Arts, London July 2009) and the influential book Fields of Vision (Polity Press, Jan 1994).
Writing in the latter, Daniels describes landscape imagery “as not merely a reflection of, or distraction from, more pressing social, economic, or political issues; it is often a powerful mode of knowledge and social engagement. As exemplars of moral order and aesthetic harmony, particular landscapes achieve the status of national icons, and imperialists, almost by definition, have annexed the homelands of others in their identity myths, projecting on ‘foreigners’ pictorial codes that express both an affinity with the colonizing country and an estrangement from it.” In the book Daniels shows how various artists–including painters, landscape designers, and architects–have articulated national identities in England and the United States from the later eighteenth century to the present day.
You can download Daniel’s essay ‘The English Outdoors’ from We English, here.
“True to his word, Roberts’ pictures are unmistakably his own. Photographed in colour with a tripod-mounted 5 x 4 plate camera, they exhibit a disciplined compositional restraint, a richness of palette, and – often – a wealth of narrative incident…..His intent to mine the country’s overlooked moments – the trivial and the quotidian – is made good.†Guy Lane.
Jez Butterworth’s new play Jerusalem opens in the West End next week, after a run at the Royal Court where it scooped awards for best play and, for Mark Rylance, best actor. It’s also getting some fantastic reviews (for instance, here and here).
It is a three-hour comic play that appears to deal with small beer and wastrels, but stealthily becomes a state-of-the-nation play. As Johnny “Rooster†Byron, its hero, supposedly says at birth: “Mother, what is this dark place?†/ “’Tis England, my boy, England.â€
It’s showing at the Apollo Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue from 28 January 2010 – 4th April.
Here’s the blurb – “A comic, contemporary vision of rural life in our green and pleasant land, Jez Butterworth’s epic new play is wildly original. In part a lament about the erosion of country life, and in part a rebuff to the antiseptic modern world, it features a landmark central performance from Mark Rylance as hellraiser Johnny Byron, ‘a performance so charismatic, so mercurial, so complete and compelling that it doesn’t look like acting’ (Evening Standard), and a superb ensemble cast including Mackenzie Crook who ‘excels’ as Johnny’s sidekick Ginger. On St George’s Day, the morning of the local county fair, Johnny Byron is a wanted man. The council officials want to serve him an eviction notice, his son wants his dad to take him to the fair, and a motley crew of mates want his ample supply of drugs and alcohol.”
You can read an interview with Jez Butterwroth and Mark Rylance by Kate Muir writing in The Times (Saturday 23rd January) here.
There’s a review of We English by Gerry Badger in the current issue of AG Magazine (Issue 58/Winter 2010).
Under the title ‘Green and Pleasant Land’ Badger writes: “We English is a complex body of work – photographically simple in one sense, but imagistically complicated, with many different inferences, not all of them immediately appearance, so one can be grateful for the book’s size, which enables one to see much of the detail in the pictures. Whether it can be considered as art or documentary, I don’t care – the so-called painterly aspects of the work interest me the least. What does interest me is that Simon Roberts has produce an intelligent and persuasive vision of our contemporary English mores – a Tony Ray-Jones for the 21st century.â€
You can read the full review by downloading the pdf here.
Here is a review of We English by Sarah Bradley that has just published in Photo-Eye Magazine:
Simon Roberts produced the images for We English during a year visiting popular recreational sites across England. It’s an intriguing way to investigate a country, one which served my family well when living in England while I was 13 (we actually visited some of Robert’s locations). It’s served Roberts well, too. Documenting his countrymen beach combing, pheasant hunting, visiting car boot sales, hiking and spending afternoons at the lake, Roberts’s images are landscapes of English leisure, both natural and social.
Quite simply, the images are beautiful, though perhaps not immediately revealing – their beauty can encourage the clumsy habit of overlooking what they contain. The best of these photographs are remarkable in the layers that Roberts’s has managed to capture – environment, group and individual. And truly the three inform and shape the others.
We English, by Simon Roberts. Published by Chris Boot, 2009.
The 86 photographs in the book depict an array of interactions with the outdoors. Though sometimes sparsely populated, the effects of human use are visible in every image, ranging in severity from the scars running up green hillsides to the garish architecture of seaside Black Pool – all causalities of joyful use. But while are landscapes molded by the activities of the masses, they are enjoyed by the individual, and Roberts’s large-format images are detailed enough (and the book’s printing sharp enough) to look at the individual. This is really where Roberts won me over; tiny black specs in the sea become surfers, a mother takes a picture with her child, a kid sits alone in contemplation among the crowd. Each figure is fascinating, an individual acting within the group.
We English, by Simon Roberts. Published by Chris Boot, 2009.
This edition does a wonderful job of presenting Roberts’s images. Even so, I feel like there’s more to this work. The book ends with an essay by Roberts which reads like an engaging artist’s talk, referencing and explaining not every image, but those that serve as speaking points in the evolution of the project, providing a personal, logistical and sociological context. I wish this text had been longer – Stephen Daniels’s introduction is an informative history, but I’m not convinced it was the best set-up for Roberts’s work. I’m interested in hearing more from Roberts on this project – and I’m curious to see what he does next. —Sarah Bradley
Posted in REVIEWS & PRESS | Comments Off on PHOTO-EYE MAGAZINE REVIEW
Whilst talking a Sunday stroll along the seafront last November I came across some surfers patiently waiting for some waves in Shoreham Harbour. I shot a few minutes of video and have finally gotten around to downloading it onto my computer, so I thought I’d share it with you. It’s like a little water dance….just without a soundtrack.
Posted in MISCELLANEOUS | Comments Off on HERE’S ONE I MADE EARLIER
Just before Christmas I spent the weekend in Bradford shooting a new picture for the We English exhibition, which opens at the National Media Museum in March. Following from my original concept for the project, people were invited to suggest ideas of events and leisure pursuits I could photograph for the commission – see my previous blog post here. What follows is an account of the weekend originally posted up on the National Media Museum blog here. (nb. I was followed around by a film crew from the Museum making a series of short podcasts, which will go up on their website shortly).
The upcoming photographic exhibition, Simon Roberts: We English explores national identity and people at leisure in England’s rich landscape. The project was developed from Simon’s childhood memories, and the range of associations and images they evoke, how landscapes formed an important part of who he is, and a fascination with ideas of belonging and memory, identity and place.
As part of the exhibition, the National Media Museum asked for suggestions from the public for an outdoor leisure activity or event happening in the Bradford District, which could be photographed by Simon Roberts and included in the show..
We wish to thank everybody for their suggestions, and for providing us with so many possibilities – it was impossible to visit every event but all the suggestions received were greatly appreciated. Please visit http www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk/simonroberts for more information, and see the result of Simon’s dedicated and personal exploration of Englishness and the English at leisure when the exhibition opens at the National Media Museum on 12th March 2010.
So in August 2007, Simon – intrigued by the tradition of the road trip in photography – took to the road in a motorhome with his pregnant wife and daughter, in search of landscapes and depictions of the English at leisure. It is this subject that led to him touring the Bradford District on a cold weekend early in December, with a dedicated team from our Exhibitions Department, in his search for the exhibition’s final photographic work.
Here is a brief account of that weekend and some of the locations visited:
The team set off on Saturday morning at 9.15am, and after venturing to Lister Park in Bradford to observe the Saturday morning power walkers, the next port of call was the Cow and Calf rocks on Ilkley Moor. In Simon’s words:
“I was pleasantly surprised to discover a crisp winter’s morning when we headed out to Ilkley Moor. On arrival, I saw a group of fell runners on the horizon, unfortunately too far in the distance to work in a photograph. The [moor’s] rocks themselves were very photogenic and offer spectacular views of Ilkley, and I could see a lot of potential for photographs in the summer months when there would be hordes of people clambering over the rocks, picnicking and hiking. Alas, there were only a few walkers about today. As the rain set in, I ran for cover, and headed back to Bradford.â€
“The next stop was Myra Shay Park, home to BD3 United FC, where that afternoon the under 13 boys team had their training session photographed under the watchful eye of coach Michael Purches, who married into the city’s Pakistani community and now goes by his Muslim name of Abu Bakr. Simon first came across this location several weeks ago and was struck by the “excellent panoramic views of the Bradford skyline including the chimney stacks of Lister Mills, once the largest silk factory in the world.â€
Simon and the team headed towards Haworth in search of ‘Top Withens’, a ruined farmhouse and popular walking destination, said to have been the inspiration for Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights. As the light faded across the Yorkshire Moors our team disbanded for the day, ready for round two the following morning.â€
Of the second day, Simon reported:
“On a bright and sunny Sunday morning I photographed the first half of BD3 United’s match against Calverley United at Priesthorpe School. No exciting views this time, however I was able to shimmy on top of a Portakabin to get a good vantage point over the pitch. Calverley United’s supporters turned up with a sandwich toastie maker, and were doing a good trade in bacon butties. BD3 won 4-2.â€
Aside from the obvious advantages of a clear vantage point at a football match, Simon explained that photographing from elevated positions enables him to get a greater sense of people’s interaction with the landscape and with one another.
“Sunday was certainly a game of two halves. Sandwiched by a brief journey to Five Rise Locks in Bingley it was back to the football pitch, this time to watch the second half of Second West versus New Tyke Rangers at the Carr Bottom Stadium off Little Horton Lane in BD5, just up the road from the Museum.â€
Simon said: “There was an excellent vantage point from a bridge overlooking the game, which was part of the Bradford Sunday Alliance Football League. The pitch was nestled in the centre of a small housing estate.Well I say pitch, it was more of an undulating quagmire with twenty two men sliding about and shouting obscenities! Second West won 4-1.â€
The Museum’s own winning team concluded the weekend with a well-earned meal at the Karachi Restaurant, finishing the day’s film interviews (to be included in the exhibition alongside footage of Simon on location around the Bradford District).
On her return from the weekend trip, I spoke to the Exhibitions Organiser Ruth Haycock, who told me that having stood for hours in the cold that weekend, she really admired Simon’s complete commitment and passion for the project, in fact, that of his whole family. Not only in dealing with the weather conditions (which, on this particular weekend, were somewhat fitting considering Simon’s road trip in 2008 was undertaken during one of the wettest years on record, and therefore this final piece was shot in similar conditions to those he endured a year ago), but his incredible level of patience in waiting for just the right moment to take the shot, capturing “We English†enjoying our most cherished and loved pastimes.
Posted in ON THE JOB | Comments Off on NMM EXHIBITION, PART 2
I’m going to be giving two lectures in the coming weeks as part of the Royal Geographical Society’s regional lecture program.
Lecture title: Motherland, Homeland – A photographic journey through Russia and England.
Lecture description: Unravel the stereotypes and identify what connects people with places and landscapes. An unflinching, unbiased exploration of what it means to be both Russian, and English, today.
Saturday 23Â January, at 20.00
Regional Theatres Programme
Venue: King’s Lynn Arts Centre, 27-29 King Street, King’s Lynn, Norfolk, PE30 1HA Tickets: RGS-IBG Members and one guest £8 (quote membership number) Box Office (01553) 764864 or book online.
Tuesday 9 February, at 20.00
Regional Theatres Programme
Venue: Darlington Arts Centre, Vane Terrace, Darlington, DL3 7AX
Tickets: RGS-IBG Members and one guest £8.50 (quote membership number) Box Office Telephone: 01325 486555 or online.
You can find out more on the Royal Geogarphical Society’s website here (for King’s Lynn) and here (for Darlington).
