Simon Roberts: National Property

Anyone who’s ‘done’ Constable country, or tried to channel their inner druid at Stonehenge, or even just fancied a bit of peace and quiet in the sticks, will raise a (possibly anxious) smile at Simon Roberts’s ace photographs of heritage sites and historic properties. Always with an amused eye on how we interact with (read: mess up) our surroundings, Roberts gives us shots of sightseers milling about at Willy Lott’s cottage, spoiling the view while trying to get the perfect view as immortalised in Constable’s ‘The Hay Wain’, and crowds at Stonehenge, some on their phones, many facing the other way. It’s tempting to say these images are like a day trip without any of the Network Rail-induced stress. But they’re even better than that. They are a reminder of why staying put in London is often your best bet in the first place.