Lens Culture Conversations with Photographers — Video Interview
Photography as
Visual Anthropology in
Russia and England
interview with, and photographs by
Simon Roberts
British Photographer Simon Roberts chooses to embark on long-term, in-depth visual studies of people and the places they live. He describes his work as socio-documentary photography, which when viewed as a whole, can be seen as a rich, subjective source of visual anthropology of contemporary life.
His first year-long study of contemporary Russia and Russians in 2005 was published in 2007 as the highly-acclaimed photobook Motherland.
For his second multi-year project, he chose to focus on the idea of "Leisure" in all corners of his own country, England. The resulting book, We English, was just published in October 2009.
Simon Roberts spoke with Lens Culture editor Jim Casper about his work in this interview recorded in November 2009.
HINT: Click on the 4-way arrows on the lower right to watch the high-definition full screen version of the video.
You can learn more about Simon Roberts and his work on his website. Lens Culture also featured an audio interview and slideshow about Motherland two years ago, and a book review about We English earlier this year.
ALSO, Simon Roberts donated a signed copy of Motherland and a signed limited edition print to be given to the next generous (and lucky) person who donates $250 or more to support Lens Culture. Details here.
Motherland
Photos and text by Simon Roberts
Introduction by Rosamund Bartlett
Hardcover: 191 pages, 152 photos
Publisher: Chris Boot, 2007
We English
Photos and text by Simon Roberts
Introduction by Stephen Daniels
Hardcover: 112 pages
Publisher: Chris Boot Ltd, 2009