A series of large-format landscape photographs, "We English" is a collection of places used for outdoor pursuits. Mixing the traditional bucolic scenes of the english countryside, windswept seascapes and scenes peppered with industrial architecture, Simon has re-purposed the aesthetic of Romantic landscape paintings.
"We English" fits in the canon of photographing England, alongside John Davies, Martin Parr and Nick Danziger. But Simon was not interested in producing a social critique or commentary on the state of England or the English. Instead he used the power of the large format to produce a beauty, subtle in its representation of the cultural character of the English at play, that draws the viewer into the minute details of his chosen vantage point.
Simon has exhibited widely with exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago; the Museum of Modern Art Shanghai; National Media Museum, Bradford; Klompching Gallery, New York; Photofusion, London; The Photographer's Gallery, London and most recently with a touring exhibition in the UK of his work "The Election Project", a commission as the official artist for the UK General Election 2010.
His work is held in a number of important collections, including the George Eastman House [USA]; International Museum of Photograph and Film [USA]; Deutsche Borse Art Collection [Germany]; Museum of Contemporary Photography [USA] and the Merrill Lynch Financial Centre [UK].
