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
ourselves saving
The ability for us to laugh at ourselves is Britain's saving grace.
exotic subject
Most of us, when we go out with a camera in our own country, try to find exotic subject matter to photograph.
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.
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.
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.
younger
I like to keep in touch with younger photographers. It's important that a younger generation comes up and questions the assumptions made by old farts like me.
became critique society work
My black-and-white work is more of a celebration, and the color work became more of a critique of society.
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.
ability drown objects photograph
I would drown in objects if I didn't have the ability to photograph them.
brown shoot
You can't shoot in sepia, so converting into black and white and then into brown makes everything feel less real.
change people time type
Places change all the time, and the type of people who live there change.
kids people
Of course, New Brighton is very shabby, very rundown, but people still go there because it's the place where you take kids out on a Sunday.
almost bit fact hence particular popular remains romantic tends wedding
Sepia in particular tends to make everything look a bit romantic and almost sentimental, hence the fact that it remains such a popular choice for wedding photographs.
angst behind counts expand modern perfect taken technology trying
Modern technology has taken the angst out of achieving the perfect shot. For me, the only thing that counts is the idea behind the image: what you want to see and what you're trying to say. The idea is crucial. You have to think of something you want to say and expand upon it.