Martin Parr
Martin Parr
Martin Parris a British documentary photographer, photojournalist and photobook collector. He is known for his photographic projects that take an intimate, satirical and anthropological look at aspects of modern life, in particular documenting the social classes of England, and more broadly the wealth of the Western world. His major projects have been rural communities, The Last Resort, The Cost of Living, Small Worldand Common Sense...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionPhotographer
Date of Birth25 May 1952
color commercial obliged palette serious snapshot work
In the '70s, in Britain, if you were going to do serious photography, you were obliged to work in black-and-white. Color was the palette of commercial photography and snapshot photography.
black-and-white color years
In 1982 I bought the newly released Makina Plaubel 55mm fixed-lens camera. With this shift from 35mm to 6 x 7, I also changed from black and white to color. Later that year, I started my project on New Brighton called The Last Resort. However, the first project I shot in colour was composed of urban scenes from Liverpool. This image was on the second roll of film. It's the first good photo I made in this new chapter of my work.
black-and-white color celebration
My black-and-white work is more of a celebration and the color work became more of a critique of society.
photography color snapshots
Color was the palette of commercial photography and snapshot photography.
alone galleries york
There are 65 to 70 photography galleries in New York alone. In the U.K., there are no more than five, and they're all in London.
fine good image says terms touch
When someone says to you, 'Oh, I don't take a good picture,' what they mean is they haven't come to terms with how they look. They take a fine picture, it's just that their image of how they think they look is not in touch with the reality.
filming
Filming is always a challenge because I'm not used to it. But I approach it head-on. I'm not technically brilliant, but it's the spirit that counts.
hard
We live in a homogenized world, where it's hard to get excited when everything is slick and professional. The interesting things are the dull things.
We live in a difficult but inspiring world, and there is so much out there that I want to record.
exotic subject
Most of us, when we go out with a camera in our own country, try to find exotic subject matter to photograph.
love platform privileged
I love curating, because I'm lucky and privileged that I have a platform and I can share my discoveries with other people.
passed
My father was an obsessive bird-watcher. The genes of observation passed down.
family local prepare struck valuable vietnam visited
When I visited Vietnam for Oxfam, the thing that really struck me was how the local farmers had to prepare to evacuate or climb to their mezzanines with their valuable family possessions.
work
There are elements of irony in my work, of course.