Simon_Roberts_webNew Vedute - Simon Roberts

Motherland and Polyarnye Nochi series. In
England he studied every aspect of the British
culture, from national identity and leisure
in We English to Pierdom which recorded
every remaining British pleasure pier. Sight
Sacralization: (Re)framing Switzerland is a
spectacular view of Swiss idyllic mountains
and the tourist invasion. Urban Parks
documents the relationship between green
spots and cities, highlighting how parks are
transformed, celebrated and lived by people.
In all his works the aesthetic and the
sociological aspect are bound together;
besides individual identity Roberts’ concern
is the collective identity. In The Last Moment,
a project carried out between 2011 and 2014
he mocks the technological obsessions which
enslaves us today. Simon chooses photos
of key world events published in British
broadsheet newspapers. The background
is veiled by using a white ghostly layer, but
every occasion in which someone is using
a camera is noted and then circled, so that
only the device is visible. An ironic criticism
of the massive production and consumption
of photos produced and spread every day
throughout the world, thereby exploring
the role of photography in contemporary
society. Roberts analyses the socio-cultural,
technological and psychological context.
He also plays with cultural stereotypes and
cliches as in the series of works New Vedute
- Alternative Postcards from Italy. Simon’s
socio-political photos of Italy and traditional
tourist postcards from the 50s/70s are
framed one inside the other. This overlapping
technique creates a tension between past and
present, highlighting some of the political,
social and economic challenges facing Italy
today, especially in light of mass tourism,
immigration and urbanization abuses. His
vision isn’t free of cultural prejudice and states
how foreigners see us. The same interest in
social rituals can be pictured in the series of
works Urban Parks - Green Lungs of the City
(2015-2016). Simon reflects on the history
of public parks. In XVII parks were exclusive
domain of wealthy families and royalty, but
by the mid 1800s urban parks were starting
to be seen as a way to serve the public and
latter as a remedy to social ills caused by the
Industrial Revolution and overcrowding in
lower income neighborhoods. Also the British
pleasure piers are seen as an escape from
polluted cities in search of fresh air. His work
therefore outlines our way of living as human
being, anywhere in the world, picturing us in
parks, cities and in our homes. Different ways
that find a common ground that Steichen
had sensed in MoMa exhibition: we are part
of a huge family with all the difficulties every
single family has. If Tolstoj quote from Anna
Karenina is right we are “…All happy families
are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in
it’s own way.” This is the reason why everyone
can mirror himself in Simon Roberts’ works.
Our habits, our idiosyncrasies and the places
we call home are told through the eyes of
someone who is part of this humanity. In the
clearness of everyday life and of social rituals,
a view of Life through a photography of Man.
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