Simon Roberts: Inscapes

[ Exhibition )

Colour photograph of the photographer Simon Roberts on location in the South Downs, pictured with his camera equipment in a landscape of dried bracken and green trees in the background as well as framing the foreground

A photographic meditation on the hinterland of Sussex.

How connected are we to our local landscapes? How can an essence of a place be captured?

A series of photographic, video- and sound-based landscape studies by artist-photographer Simon Roberts explored these questions as he journeyed on foot through the wild and secluded hinterland of West Sussex. He focused on locations surrounding Petworth where British painter Ivon Hitchens loved to paint, connecting with the subject of the gallery’s headline summer exhibition whilst following in the footsteps of one of Britain’s most admired modern landscape painters.

Scroll on to discover more of Roberts’ photographic, video- and sound-based studies.

Simon Roberts: Field Notes

“I wanted to move beyond just looking at the fabric of the landscape, and explore ideas of the ‘modest beauty’ of these hinterland spaces. For the first time, people are absent from my landscapes, but nature’s myriad of details are revealed through a process of slow looking.”

Read our blog where Simon Roberts shares some of his insights from his walks through the Sussex countryside.

Discover the 'modest beauty' of Sussex's landscapes

In these photographs, Roberts moves beyond just looking at the fabric of the landscape and explores ideas of the ‘modest beauty’ of the secluded spaces he encounters.

Photograph by Simon Roberts showing young birch trees on an overcast day

Photograph by Simon Roberts showing a dirt path through a wood on an overcast day with patches of light and shade

Photograph by Simon Roberts showing a solitary tree standing in a brown field on misty day

Photograph by Simon Roberts showing a river meandering through trees

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Photograph showing a dark woodland with a pool of light illuminating a patch of brown bracken and part of a tree trunk.

Photograph showing a still pond reflecting the green slope running down to its banks and two trees in blossom, one with pink flowers and the other white.

Photograph showing a still pool surrounded by brown bracken and half a dozen trees on an overcast day.

Photograph showing a copse of trees just coming into leaf, the sun casting long shadows on the ground.

Photograph showing an open gate and muddy track leading to a a large field. In the distance we can see the rolling hills and woods of the South Downs.

Listen to the sounds of Sussex

Roberts’ sound-based landscape studies provide a multi-sensory experience of Sussex’s landscapes, converging time through the eyes of two artists working decades apart. Sounds from modern life question our expectations of how landscapes are depicted in art.

In Conversation with Simon Roberts and Alexandra Harris

Simon Martin, Director of Pallant House Gallery explores the meaning of place with artist-photographer Simon Roberts and writer Dr Alexandra Harris.

(This is a recording of a talk which took place in the Gallery on Thursday 25 July 2019.)

Spring Stage (2019) by Simon Roberts

A ‘slow-look’ film that questions how the essence of a place can be captured.

The split screen of the film into four panels is an echo of Hitchens’ use of double and triple square format. By splicing together footage filmed within Sussex’s rural South Downs, Roberts’ asks us to question how landscapes can be represented in art, whilst encouraging closer observation of the landscapes on our doorstep. Alongside his photographic and sound-based landscape studies, placed throughout the gallery, the film features locations where Hitchens loved to paint.