Simon Roberts

United Kingdom, 1974

Biography

Simon Roberts (b.1974) is a visual artist based in Brighton, UK. Widely recognised for his large-format, tableaux photographs of the British landscape, his practice also encompasses video, text and installation work, which together, interrogate notions of identity and belonging, and the complex relationship between history, place and culture.

He has exhibited widely and his photographs reside in major public and private collections, including the George Eastman House, Deutsche Börse Art Collection and Victoria & Albert Museum. In 2010 he was appointed the official British Election Artist by the House of Commons Works of Art Committee to produce a visual record of the General Election on behalf of the UK Parliamentary Art Collection; and in 2014 he represented Britain during the UK-Russia Year of Culture. He has been commissioned to make several large-scale public artworks and recognised with numerous awards including an Honorary Fellowship to the Royal Photographic Society, the Vic Odden Award and grants from Arts Council England and the John Kobal Foundation.

Author of several critically acclaimed monographs including Motherland (Chris Boot, 2007), We English (Chris Boot, 2009), Pierdom (Dewi Lewis Publishing, 2013) and Merrie Albion – Landscape Studies of a Small Island (Dewi Lewis Publishing, 2017), his work has also been profiled and published widely including in the New Yorker, Granta, National Geographic, ArtForum, Wallpaper, amongst others.

Roberts holds a BA Hons in Cultural Geography from The University of Sheffield, and is a regular public speaker and visiting lecturer. He is currently a Visiting Research Fellow at University of Cumbria – Institute of the Arts. Outside of his own professional practice he is involved with several not for profit organisations having formerly served as a trustee of Photoworks and currently working as an ambassador for FotoDocument and the Ian Parry Scholarship.

Selected Artist Works

Solo Exhibitions

2023

Former H&M – Grosvenor Shopping Centre (Chester, UK): How did we get here? Where do we go now?, May – June
Fotografia Europea (Reggio Emilia, Italy): Merrie Albion & The Brexit Lexicon, April – June (link)

2022

Flowers Gallery (London, UK): Beneath the Pilgrim Moon, September – November (link)

2021

Château de Flamanville (Flamanville, France): Normandy – Nos Jours De Fêtes, June – September (link)

2020

The Container (Tokyo, Japan): Brexshit Machine|Complex States, December – January 2021 (link)
The Art Foundation (Athens, Greece): The Brexit Lexicon|Complex States, October – December (link)

2019

Pallant House Gallery (Chichester, UK): Inscapes, June – October (link)
Format Festival (Derby, UK): The Brexit Lexicon , March – April (link)

2018

Flowers Gallery (New York, USA): Homeland, December – January 2019 (link)
Regency Town House (Brighton, UK): The Brexit Lexicon, October (link)
Brighton Photo Fringe (Brighton, UK): Between the Acts, October (link)
Cortona on the Move (Cortona, Italy): Inizio, July – September (link)
Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art (Hiroshima, Japan): Sight Sacralization: (Re)framing Switzerland Part 1 & Part 2, May – July (link)
Zeitgeist Art Gallery (Nashville, USA): Public Performance, May – June (link)
Heinzer Reszler (Lausanne, Switzerland): New Vedute, May – June (pdf)
Flowers Gallery (London, UK): Merrie Albion, January – February (link)

2017

Visionarea (Rome, Italy): New Vedute, November – January 2018 (link)
Abbaye aux Dames (Caen, France): Normandy, October – January 2018 (link)
Centre Photographique – Pôle Image Haute-Normandie (Rouen, France): Normandy, June – September (link)
Robert Morat Galerie (Berlin, Germany): Public Performance, May – September (link)
Italian Cultural Institute (London, UK): New Vedute, May – June (link)
FotoHof (Salzburg, Austria): Landscape Studies of a Small Island, March – April (link)

2016

Museo d’Arte Contemporanea di Roma (Rome, Italy): New Vedute – Alternative postcards from Rome, October – December (link)
Hastings Pier (Hastings, UK): Pierdom, September – November
Festival Images Vevey (Vevey, Switzerland): The Last Moment, September – October (link)

2015

Baker Mamonova (St. Leonards, UK): Polyarnye Nochi, November – December (link)
Brighton Museum & Art Gallery (Brighton, UK): Pierdom, October – February 2016 (link)
Flowers Gallery (London, UK): National Property – The Picturesque imperfect, July – August (link)
Photofusion (London, UK): The Election Project, April – May (link)
Verey Gallery (Eton, UK): Landscapes of Innocence and Experience, January – April (link)
Galerie Heinzer Reszler (Lausanne, Switzerland): The Last Moment, January (link)

2014

Towner Gallery (Eastbourne, UK): Land and Sea, September – January 2015 (link)
BredaPhoto (Breda, Holland): Pierdom, September – October
Pallant House Gallery (Chichester, UK): Pierdom – National Exhibition, July – October
Grundy Art Gallery (Blackpool, UK):Pierdom – National Exhibition, July – September (link)
Quay Arts (Isle of Wight, UK):Pierdom – National Exhibition, July – September
SeaCity Museum (Southampton, UK):Pierdom – National Exhibition, July – August
Towner Gallery (Eastbourne, UK):Pierdom – National Exhibition, July – August (link)
Brighton Museum & Art Gallery (Brighton, UK):Pierdom – National Exhibition, July – August (link)
Kirkleatham Museum (Redcar, UK):Pierdom – National Exhibition, July – August
Aberystwyth Arts Centre (Aberystwyth, UK):Pierdom – National Exhibition, July – August (link)
Teign Heritage Centre (Teignmouth, UK):Pierdom – National Exhibition, July
Burgh Hall (Dunoon, UK):Pierdom – National Exhibition, July
Turner Contemporary (Margate, UK):Pierdom – National Exhibition, June – September
Multimedia Art Museum (Moscow, Russia): Landscape Studies of a Small Island, April – May (link)

2013

Klompching Gallery (New York, USA): Pierdom, November – December (link)
Robert Morat Galerie (Hamburg, Germany): Pierdom, November – December (link)
North East Photography Network (Sunderland, UK): The Social: Landscapes of Leisure, October – November (link)
Flowers Gallery (London, UK): Pierdom, September – October (link)
Format Festival (Derby, UK): Let This Be a Sign, March – April
Flowers Gallery (London, UK): The Election Project, February – April (link)
Phos Fotografia (Chieri, Italy): We English, January – March (link)
MC2 Gallery (Milan, Italy): Pierdom, January – February (pdf)

2012

Galerie Heinzer Reszler (Lausanne, Switzerland): We English, December – January (link)
The Photographers’ Gallery, Print Sales (London, UK): Pierdom, July – September (link)
Third Floor Gallery (Cardiff, UK): We English, July – August (link)
Swiss Cottage Gallery (London, UK): Let This Be a Sign, May – June (link)
Light House (Wolverhampton, UK): We English, January – March (link)
Pluie d’Images (Brittany, France): We English, January – February (link)

2011

Centro Brasileiro Britânico (São Paulo, Brazil): We English, November – February
Hereford Photography Festival (Hereford, UK): When did you last cry?, November (link)
Flowers Gallery (London, UK): We English, October – November (link)
Photaumnales Festival (Beauvais, France): We English, September – November
SIFEST Photography Festival (Savignano, Italy): An Italian Story, September – October (link)
UH Galleries, St Albans Museum (St Albans, UK): We English, July – September
Brighton Museum & Art Gallery (Brighton, UK): We English, May – August
mac Gallery (Birmingham, UK): We English, May – July
mac Gallery (Birmingham, UK): When did you last cry?, May – July
mac Gallery (Birmingham, UK): The Election Project, April – June
New York Photo Festival (New York, USA): When did you last cry?, May
MC2 Gallery (Milan, Italy): We English, April – May (link)
Robert Morat Galerie (Hamburg, Germany): Motherland & We English, March – April (link)
DMB Project Space (London, UK): Polyarnye Nochi, January – March
Spazio Labo’ – Centro di Fotografia (Bologna, Italy): We English, January – February (link)

2010

Clocktower Gallery (Croydon, UK): We English, November – February (link)
Robert Morat Project Space (Berlin, Germany): We English, October – December
EX3 Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea (Firenze, Italy), Motherland/Homeland, October – November
Brighton Photo Fringe (Brighton, UK): The Election Project, October
SIFEST Photography Festival (Savignano, Italy): We English, September – October
House of Commons (London, UK): The Election Project, September – December (link)
Burgh Hall, (Dunoon, UK): We English, April – July
Bank Street Arts (Sheffield, UK): Motherland, May – June
National Media Museum (Bradford, UK): We English, March – September (link)
Bonington Gallery (Nottingham, UK): Motherland/Homeland, February – March (link)
Crane Kalman (Brighton, UK): Polyarnye Nochi, January – February (link)

2009

South Hill Park Arts Centre (Bracknell, UK): We English, November – January
The Photographers’ Gallery (London, UK): We English, September – November
Klompching Gallery, (New York, US): We English, September – October

2008

Blank Gallery (Brighton, UK): Motherland, October
Belfast Exposed (Belfast, N.Ireland): Motherland, January – March (link)

2007

Klompching Gallery (New York, US): Motherland, October – December
Lodz Foto Festiwal (Lodz, Poland): Motherland, May
Photofusion (London, UK): Motherland, April – May
Pushkin House (London, UK): Motherland, March
The Photographers’ Gallery, Print Sales (London, UK): Motherland, February – April

Selected Group Exhibitions

2023

Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (Havana, Cuba): Where are you from? Cuba Photography Mission, November – January 2024
Saatchi Gallery (London, UK): Civilization – The Way We Live Now, June – September
Imperial War Museum North (Salford, UK): Generations: Portraits of Holocaust Survivors, January – July

2022

Les Rencontres De La Photographie (Arles, France): Songs of the Sky – Photography & the Cloud, July – September
Mönchehaus Museum Goslar (Goslar, Germany): Facing Britain, February – May
Cultuurecentrum Mechelen (Mechelen, Belgium): Where are you from? Cuba Photography Mission, February – March
Royal Photographic Society (Bristol, UK): Generations: Portraits of Holocaust Survivors, January – March
UNESCO (Paris, France): Generations: Portraits of Holocaust Survivors, January – February

2021

MC/O Berlin (Berlin, Germany): Songs of the Sky – Photography & the Cloud, December – March 2022
Royal Academy (London, UK): The Summer Show, November – January 2022
Imperial War Museum (London, UK): Generations: Portraits of Holocaust Survivors, August – January 2022
Croft Castle (Herefordshire, UK): All Alone – Contemporary Art and Aloneness, July – October
Bristol Museum (Bristol, UK): Island Life – Photographs from the Martin Parr Foundation, May – October
CiCLO Bienal (Porto, Portugal): The Horizon is Moving Nearer, May – June
MuCEM (Marseille, France): Civilization – The Way We Live Now, February – June

2020

Houston Center of Photography (Houston, USA): Keeper of the Hearth: Picturing Roland Barthes’ Unseen Photographs, September – January 2021
Flowers Gallery (London, UK): Small is Beautiful, July
Galerie Heinzer Reszler (Lausanne, Switzerland): Summer Exhibition, July – September
Flowers Gallery (London, UK): 50×50, February – March
R K Burt Gallery (London, UK): Sixteen, January – February

2019

Belfast Exposed Gallery (Belfast, UK): Sixteen, November – December
National Gallery of Victoria (Melbourne, Australia): Civilization – The Way We Live Now, September – February 2020
Oakland University Art Gallery (Oakland, USA): Your Very Own Paradise, September – November
Museum of Contemporary Photography (Chicago, USA): What Does Democracy Look Like?, July – September
Format Festival (Derby, UK): Sixteen, March – April
Museum of Rome (Rome, Italy): Commissione Roma 2003 – 2017, March
Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (Beijing, China): Civilisation – The Way We Live Now, March – May (link)
Flowers Gallery (London, UK): Flowers Contemporary II, January – February

2018

National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (Seoul, South Korea): Civilisation – The Way We Live Now, October – February 2019 (link)
King’s Cross (London, UK): Another Europe, July – August
Side Gallery (Newcastle, UK): About the North – Imagined Dialogues, June – September
Photobastei (Zurich, Switzerland): Bben Drauf – On Top: Four photographic perspectives with Bernd & Hilla Becher, Matthias Koch, Simon Roberts and Peter Hebeisen, April – June (link)
Hepworth Wakefield (Wakefield, UK): Modern Nature: Photography that explores the merging of urban and rural landscapes in Britain, July – April 2019 (link)
Grundy Art Gallery, (Blackpool, UK): Neither Land Nor Sea, March – June (link)
National Maritime Museum (London, UK): The Great British Seaside, March – September (link)

2017

Musée de l’Elysée (Lausanne, Switzerland): Unfamiliar familiarities: Outside Views on Switzerland, October – January 2018 (link)
Galleria Ramo (Lugano, Italy): The Nostalgic and the New, October 2017 (link)
Towner Gallery (Eastbourne, UK): A Green and Pleasant Land, September – January 2018
Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation (Frankfurt, Germany): Work & Leisure, May
Saatchi Gallery (London, UK): From Selfie to Self-Expression, March – May
Coliseum (Rome, Italy): Coliseum. An Icon, March – January 2018 (link)
Aperture (New York, USA): Collective Thinking, For Freedoms, February
Fotostiftung Schweiz (Winterthur, Switzerland): Unfamiliar familiarities: Outside Views on Switzerland, February – May (link)
Musee d’art de Pully (Pully, Switzerland): Evidences of reality, photography facing its shortcomings, February – April (link)

2016

Graves Gallery (Sheffield, UK): Street View – Photographs of Urban Life, October – March 2017 (link)
Three Shadows Gallery (Xiamen, China): Work, Rest and Play: British Photography 1960s to Today, August – October (link)
PondyPHOTO (Pondycherry, India): The Kitchen Sink, August – September (link)
Beetles & Huxley (London, UK), An Idea of Living, July – September (link)
SIA Gallery (Sheffield, UK): Northern Light: Landscape Photography and Evocations of the North, July (link)

2015

Mall Galleries (London, UK): Discerning Eye, November
People’s History Museum (Manchester, UK): Show Me The Money, July – January 2016
Minsheng Art Museum (Shanghai, China): Work, Rest and Play: British Photography 1960s to Today, July – August (link)
OCT-LOFT (Shenzhen, China): Work, Rest and Play: British Photography 1960s to Today, May – July (link)
NRW-Forum (Düsseldorf, Germany): Human Nature, January – April (link)

2014

Klompching Gallery (New York, US): About Land: The Landscape In Contemporary Photography, November – December
Flowers Gallery (New York, US): Small is Beautiful, November – December
Deutsche Börse AG (Frankfurt, Germany): Human Nature, October – December (link)
John Hansard Gallery (Southampton, UK): Show Me The Money, October – November (link)
Aberystwyth Arts Centre (Aberystwyth, UK): I Like This Place, July – September (link)
The Photographers’ Gallery (London, UK): Didn’t We Have A Lovely Time, July – August
Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art (Sunderland, UK): Show Me The Money, June – August (link)

2013

Flowers Gallery (London, UK): Small is Beautiful, November – December
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (Missouri, USA): Making Pictures of People — Recent Perspectives on Photographic Portraiture, August – January 2014
Museum of London Docklands (London, UK): Estuary, May – October
Somerset House (London, UK): Landmark: The Fields of Photography, March – April (link)
Format Festival (Derby, UK): Piece of Cake, March – April (link)

2012

Munich Stadtmuseum (Munich, Germany): Fotodoks: Let This Be a Sign, October
Galeria de Arte SESI (Sao Paulo, Brazil): Observers: British Photography and the British Scene (From the 1920s to Now), September – December
Museo d’Arte Contemporanea Roma (Rome, Italy): Camera Work / FOTOGRAFIA – Festival, September – October
Internazionale di Roma, September – October (link)
Belvedere Museum (Noorderlicht Photofestival, Netherlands); Terra Cognita, September – October (link)
Sifest (Savignano, Italy): Sin_Tesis, September – October
Flowers Gallery (London, UK): Uncommon Ground, July – September
White Cloth Gallery (Leeds, UK): The Great British Public, July – September
Victoria Park (London, UK): The World in London, July
Dog Eared Gallery (London, UK): The Great British Public, June
Aubin Gallery (London, UK): The English Way, May – June (link)
Australian Centre for Photography (New South Wales, Australia): Hijacked III, June – August (link)
Griffith University Art Gallery (Brisbane, Australia): Hijacked III, April – June
Quad (Derby, UK): Hijacked III, March – May
Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (Perth, Australia): Hijacked III: Contemporary Photography from Australia & UK, February – April

2011

National Library of Ireland (Dublin, Ireland): Martin Parr’s Best Books of the Decade, July (link)
Klompching Gallery (New York, US): Land, June – July (link)
Down Stairs Gallery (Madley, UK): Heartlands, May – July (link)
Coutts Bank (London, UK): Everyday Extraordinary, January – December

2010

Host Gallery (London, UK): Pieces of a song, December
Carrousel du Louvre (Paris, France): Electric Vision: BMW Paris Photo Prize, November
The Photo Gallery (Bristol, UK): Landscape, November
Corcoran Gallery of Art (Washington DC, USA): 100 Portraits / 100 Photographers, November
George Eastman House (Rochester, USA): What We’re Collecting: Art/Not-Art, August – October (link)
360 degrés (Quebec, Canada): Festival of Contemporary Landscape Photography, August – October
Kaunas Photo Festival (Kaunas, Lithuania): Duets and Duels – Night of Photography, September
Krakow Photomonth (Krakow, Poland): Aktualizacja UK, May

2009

House of Sweden, FotoWeek DC (Washington, USA): What Lies Beneath- Nature & Urban Landscape in EU Photography, November (link)
Paris Photo, Carrousel du Louvre (Paris, France): We English, November
BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art (Gateshead, UK): Parrworld, October – December
Noorderlicht Photo Festival (Groningen, Netherlands): War Machines, September – October (link)
3 White Walls Gallery (Birmingham, UK): Photography is dead: 10 years of Rhubarb-Rhubarb, July
Royal Academy (London, UK): Summer Exhibition, June – August
C/O Berlin (Berlin, Germany): Visions of Our Time, Deutsche Börse Art Collection, May – July
New York Photo Festival (New York, US): Home for Good, May
Klompching Gallery (New York, US): Splash!, April – June
Shinjuku, (Tokyo, Japan): This Day of Change, April – May
Format Festival (Derby, UK): Polyarnye Nochi, March – April

2008

Month of European Photography (Berlin, Germany): Blurring the Lines, November
Vanderbilt University Law School (Nashville, Tennessee): Dialogues, October – December
Pingyao International Photo Festival (Pingyao, China): Motherland, September
Royal Academy (London, UK): Summer Exhibition, June – August
Lumix Festival (Hannover, Germany): Motherland, June
New York Photo Festival (New York, US): Portraiture, May
Zeitgeist Art Gallery, (Nashville, Tennessee): Dialogues, May – June
Museum of Contemporary Photography (Chicago, US): This Land Is Your Land, February (link)
Museum of Contemporary Art (Shanghai, China): Unseen, January – March

2007

Association Of Photographers Gallery (London, UK): Polyarnye Nochi, August
Les Rencontres D’Arles (Arles, France): Motherland – Evening Projection, June
Photo London, Old Billingsgate (London, UK): Motherland, May
Deutsche Börse Art Collection (Frankfurt, Germany): New Acquisitions, March – September (link)
Royal Photographic Society (London, UK): 150th International Print Exhibition, May – June

2006

Lianzhou International Photo Festival (Lianzhou, China): Motherland, December
Lennox Contemporary Gallery, (Toronto,Canada): Flash Forward, November (link)
Paris Photo, Carrousel du Louvre (Paris, France): Motherland, November
Kaunas Photo Days Festival (Kaunas, Lithuania): Motherland, September – October
PHotoEspaña Festival (Madrid, Spain): Descubrimientos PHE, June – July

Awards

Artist in Residence, Guernsey Photography Festival (Guernsey), 2022
Developing Your Creative Practice Grant, Arts Council England (UK), 2020
Best Photography Book of the Year of PHotoEspaña​, Shortlisted for Merrie Albion (Spain), 2018
Arts Council England Grant (UK), 2018
PWA Photobook Dummy Award, Nominated for New Vedute (Denmark), 2018
Thames Tideway Tunnel, Public Arts Commission (UK), 2017
Rome Commission / British Council Grant (Italy), 2016
Artists’ International Development Fund, Arts Council England (UK), 2016
ING Discerning Eye, Selected Artist (UK), 2015
Deutsche Börse Photography Prize, Longlisted for Pierdom monograph (UK), 2014
UK-Russia Year of Culture / British Council, Selected Artist (Russia), 2014
Source-Cord Prize, Shortlisted (UK), 2014
Arts Council England Grant (UK), 2014
Honorary Fellowship, Royal Photographic Society (UK), 2013
North East Photography Network Commission (UK), 2013
Above&Beyond Public Arts Commission, Bristol Royal Infirmary (UK), 2013
BNL – BNP Paribas Group Award, MIA Art Fair, Finalist (Italy), 2012
Deutsche Börse Photography Prize, Longlisted forWe English monograph (UK), 2011
Creative Review Photography Annual (UK), 2011
IPA Awards, First Prize – Political (USA), 2011
Arts Council England Grant (UK), 2011
BMW Paris Photo Prize, Shortlisted (France), 2010
British Election Artist Commission, House of Commons Works of Art Committee (UK), 2010
PDN Photo Annual, Best Photography Book – We English (USA), 2010
World Press Photo Award, Daily Life Stories, Third Prize (Netherlands), 2010
Arts Council England Grant (UK), 2010
Royal Photographic Society Fellowship Distinction (UK), 2009
New York Photo Festival, Best Photography Book – We English (USA), 2009
KLM Paul Huff Award, Shortlisted (Amsterdam), 2009
ArtSlant Showcase Winner (USA), 2009
Creative Review Photography Annual (UK), 2009
Deutsche Börse Photography Prize, Longlisted for Motherland exhibition (UK), 2008
John Kobal Foundation Grant (UK), 2008
PDN Photo Annual, Best Photography Book – Motherland (USA), 2008
American Photography 24 Annual (USA), 2008
National Media Museum Bursary (UK), 2007
Arts Council England Grant (UK), 2007
Vic Odden Award (UK), 2007
Les Rencontres d’Arles Contemporary Book Award, Shortlisted for Motherland (France), 2007
PHotoEspana Year’s Best Photography Books, Shortlisted for Motherland (Spain), 2007
Lodz Foto Festiwal Special Prize (Poland), 2007
AOP Document Award (UK), 2007
Lange–Paul Taylor Prize, Finalist (USA), 2007
Getty Grant (USA), 2007
Photography Now – One Hundred Portfolios (USA), 2007
Bright Spark Award, Magenta Foundation (Canada), 2007
Alexia Foundation Grant, Highly Commended (USA), 2007
AOP Open Award, Best In Show (UK), 2005
Photo District News PDN30 Emerging Artist (USA), 2004
Joop Swart Masterclass, World Press Foundation (Amsterdam), 2003
Ian Parry Award (UK), 1999