Martin Parr

Martin Parr (born 23 May 1952) is 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.

Although John Bulmer had pioneered colour documentary photography of Britain, from 1965, Gerry Badger has said of The Last Resort:

"It is difficult from a perspective of almost a quarter of a century to underestimate [sic] the significance of The Last Resort, either in British photography or Martin Parr's career. For both, it represented a seismic change in the basic mode of photographic expression, from monochrome to colour, a fundamental technical change that heralded the development of a new tone in documentary photography."

Karen Wright, writing in The Independent, has said "He was attacked by some critics for his scrutiny of the working classes, but looking at these works, one merely sees Parr's unflinching eye capturing the truth of a social class embracing leisure in whatever form available."

Parr studied photography at Manchester Polytechnic from 1970 to 1972 with contemporaries Daniel Meadows and Brian Griffin.

Parr and Meadows collaborated on various projects, including working at Butlin's as roving photographers.

They were part of a new wave of documentary photographers, "a loose British grouping, which, though it never gave itself a title have become variously known as 'the Young British Photographers', 'Independent Photographers' and the 'New British Photography'."

Parr spent five years photographing rural life in the area, focusing on the Methodist (and some Baptist) non-conformist chapels, a focal point for isolated farming communities that in the early 1970s were closing down.

He photographed in black-and-white, for its nostalgic nature and for it being appropriate to his celebratory look at this past activity.

Also, photographers at that time were obliged to work in black-and-white to be taken seriously, colour being associated with commercial and snapshot photography.

His major projects have been rural communities (1975–1982), The Last Resort (1983–1985), The Cost of Living (1987–1989), Small World (1987–1994) and Common Sense (1995–1999).

In 1975 Parr moved to Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire where he would complete his first mature work.

He was involved with the Albert Street Workshop, a hub for artistic activity which included a darkroom and exhibition space.

In 1980 Parr married Susan Mitchell and, for her work, they moved to the west coast of Ireland.

He set up a darkroom in Boyle, County Roscommon.

Parr's first publications, Bad Weather, published in 1982 by Zwemmer with an Arts Council subsidy, Calderdale Photographs (1984) and A Fair Day: Photographs from the West Coast of Ireland (1984), all featured photographs from mostly northern England, and Ireland, in black-and-white.

He used a Leica M3 with a 35 mm lens; although for Bad Weather he quickly switched to an underwater camera with a flashgun.

In 1982 Parr and his wife moved to Wallasey, England, and he switched permanently to colour photography, inspired by the work of US colour photographers, mostly Joel Meyerowitz, but also William Eggleston and Stephen Shore, and also the British Peter Fraser and Peter Mitchell.

Parr has written that "I had also encountered the post cards of John Hinde when I worked at Butlin's in the early 70s and the bright saturated colour of these had a big impact on me."

During the summers of 1983, 1984 and 1985 he photographed working-class people at the seaside in nearby New Brighton.

In 1985 Parr completed a commission for the Documentary Photography Archive in Manchester to photograph people at supermarkets in Salford, Retailing in the Borough of Salford, which is now held at the archive.

He married Susan Mitchell and they have one child, Ellen Parr (born 1986).

Parr was diagnosed with cancer in May 2021.

Parr has said of his photography:

"The fundamental thing I'm exploring constantly is the difference between the mythology of the place and the reality of it. ... Remember I make serious photographs disguised as entertainment. That's part of my mantra. I make the pictures acceptable to find the audience but deep down there is actually a lot going on that's not sharply written in your face. If you want to read it you can read it."

Parr's aesthetic is close-up, through use of a macro lens, and employing saturated colour, a result of either the type of film and/or use of a ring flash.

This allows him to put his subjects "under the microscope" in their own environment, giving them space to expose their lives and values in ways that often involve inadvertent humour.

This work was published in the book The Last Resort: Photographs of New Brighton (1986) and exhibited in Liverpool and London.

He and his wife moved to Bristol in 1987, where they still live.

During 1987 and 1988 he completed his next major project, on the middle class, who were at that time becoming increasingly affluent under Thatcherism.

His technique, as seen in his book Signs of the Times: A Portrait of the Nation's Tastes (1992), has been said to leave viewers with ambiguous emotional reactions, unsure whether to laugh or cry.

Since 1994, Parr has been a member of Magnum Photos.

He has had around 40 solo photobooks published, and has featured in around 80 exhibitions worldwide – including the international touring exhibition ParrWorld, and a retrospective at the Barbican Arts Centre, London, in 2002.

His series The Non-Conformists was widely exhibited at the time and published as a book in 2013.

Critic Sean O'Hagan, writing in The Guardian, said "It's easy to forget how quietly observational Parr was as a black-and-white photographer."

The Martin Parr Foundation, founded in 2014, and registered as a charity in 2015 opened premises in his hometown of Bristol in 2017.

It houses his own archive, his collection of British and Irish photography by other photographers, and a gallery.

Born in Epsom, Surrey, Parr wanted to become a documentary photographer from the age of fourteen.

He cites his grandfather, George Parr, an amateur photographer and fellow of the Royal Photographic Society, as an early influence.