Simon Roberts

I was born in Croydon, South London, in 1974. My mother is a Northerner, hailing from Cleator Moor in Cumbria, who met my London-born father when they were both working in the capital. My formative years were spent in the provincial town of Oxted, in Surrey’s commuter belt, while holidays were often spent walking in the Lake District (normally in the rain) or visiting my grandparents in Angmering, a retirement town on the South Coast. Alongside these childhood memories, and the range of associations and images they suggest, the starting point for [this series, called] We English, was to explore themes of identity, memory, history and attachment to place - of belonging… Having returned from Russia in late 2005, where I’d spent the year travelling across the country with my wife I began to pursue the idea of another journey, this time around my own homeland, England.

Unremarkable beginnings, you might think, and for many people, they are merely typical childhood memories. Yet they spark off a range of associations and images, of feelings and senses, which all helped begin the process of making [this series]. Initially, I was simply thinking about Englishness and how my upbringing had been quintessentially English. How much of this was an intrinsic part of my identity? In what ways was my idea of what constitutes an ‘English life’ or English pastimes (if there are such things) different to those of others’? My own memories of holidays, for example, were infused with very particular landscapes; the lush green-ness around Derwent Water or the flinty grey skies - and pebbles - of Angmering’s beaches. It seemed to me that these landscapes formed an important part of my consciousness of who I am and how I ‘remember’ England.

Having moved to Vancouver for 10 years now, I really feel that Vancouver is my home. However, every now and again, I encounter a situation in which I feel completely alien. I still experience culture-shocks. I did go back to my home town earlier this year, but my decade-long absence has all but made me feel equally alien there. So where do I fit in? Perhaps it is time to explore my roots again…

Additional text from We English. Visit Simon Roberts’ site to view more of this series.