Simon Roberts (photographer)
Simon Roberts (born 5 February 1974) is a British photographer based in Brighton. His work looks at how people relate to the landscape and how ideas of identity and belonging shape our world. He has published several books, including Motherland (2007), We English (2009), Pierdom (2013), and Merrie Albion (2017). His photographs have been shown in exhibitions around the world. He has received honours from the Royal Photographic Society, including an Honorary Fellowship and the Vic Odden Award, and he was the official British Election Artist in 2010, documenting campaigning before the general election.
Roberts studied Human Geography at the University of Sheffield, earning a BA Hons in 1996.
From July 2004 to August 2005, he travelled across Russia, visiting 65 places from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok. This work became the book Motherland and the Polyarnye Nochi exhibition. From August 2007 to September 2008, he travelled England in a motor home with a large-format camera to photograph people at play and their relationship to the places they visit, resulting in We English (book in 2009) and a corresponding exhibition. The project received notable recognition, with Sean O’Hagan naming We English among his top ten photography exhibitions of 2011, and Parr and Badger including it in their photobook history.
For the 2010 General Election, Roberts was commissioned as the official Election Artist by the Speaker’s Advisory Committee on Works of Art. He again travelled by motor home with an old plate camera to photograph campaigning from the roof of the vehicle. This produced The Election Project touring exhibition and The Election Project Newspaper (made freely available online in 2012).
He has produced other series, including Polyarnye Nochi, Star Chambers (2011), Landscapes of Innocence & Experience (2011), Credit Crunch Lexicon (2011–2012), Let This Be a Sign (2011–2012), Pierdom (2011–2012), The Last Moment (2011–2012), and XXX Olympiad (2012).
He continues to live in Brighton.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 08:44 (CET).