Next up in our series of Payback interviews is award-winning photographer, Simon Roberts, who tells us about his experience of claiming royalties and his new book, Pierdom.
Can you tell us a bit about your work?
I’m a photographic artist working in the genre of documentary landscape. I often employ expansive landscape photographs taken on a 4x5 plate camera and my approach is one of creating wide-ranging surveys of our time, which communicate on social, economic and political issues.
For instance, in 2010 I was commissioned as the official Election Artist by the House of Commons Works of Art Committee to produce a record of the General Election on behalf of the
Parliamentary Art Collection. There’s an audio-visual slideshow on the
BBC News website where I discuss the work.
In 2012 I was also granted access by the International Olympic Committee to
record the London Olympics.
How long have you been claiming Payback royalties for?
I first claimed in 2011 on the encouragement of an artist colleague. In hindsight, I have to say it was at least ten years later than I should have done!
What did you do with last year’s Payback royalty?
Given that the money landed into my account in mid-December I was able to splash out on a few extra Christmas presents. Alas, the remainder probably went to the Inland Revenue to help cover my January tax bill - convenient timing as I never remember to save enough throughout the year!
What advice would you give to anyone signing up for Payback for the first time?
The process is very straightforward and it’s definitely worth setting aside half a day to complete. After the first application it becomes much quicker to make subsequent claims. The important thing is to keep a thorough record of where your work has been published to make your Payback claim as comprehensive as possible.
Do you have any interesting projects coming up that we should know about?
I’ve just launched a new book,
Pierdom (Dewi Lewis Publishing), which documents the fifty-eight remaining Pleasure Piers around the coastline of Britain. There is an associated exhibition of the work currently on the walls at
Flowers Gallery in London.
Simon Roberts: Pierdom is open at Flowers Gallery until 12 October 2013.
For updates and information about Simon Roberts, visit his website or follow him on Twitter.
Read more interviews with artists who have claimed Payback royalties.
Are you an artist? Has your work ever been used in UK books, magazines or on TV? We might have some Payback royalties for you. Find out more and sign up online by 31 October 2013.
Image: Simon Roberts © John Roberts