Exercise: We English.

Exercise: Reflective commentary on We English.

Simon Robert’s use of a large format camera contributed to both the quality of the pictures and their air of non-spontaneity.  They are beautifully composed and processed but the time taken to set up the shot removed all hope of involvement. Because he limited the human content he also limited his scope to use the human form as a central figure he has fallen back on the landscape artist’s artifice of a red feature to give the eye a starting point from which to examine the rest of the picture. 

He has managed to photograph the mundane but made it compelling in a way that I don’t think his, The Election Project, matched.  These images held my attention and were a pleasure to look at.

This was a well planned and executed project relying on both his own knowledge and the accepting of suggestions from his web followers.  The study of earlier work, the securing of funding and publication gave Simon time to produce this excellent work.  Unlike Martin Parr, he shows little cynicism and tries to find the best in people.  The one exception was the image of the filthy state of the pleasure beach at Blackpool.