Martin Parr (born 23 May 1952) is a British documentary photographer,

photojournalist Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such ...

and photobook collector. He is known for his photographic projects that take an intimate,

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...

and

anthropological Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...

look at aspects of modern life, in particular documenting the

social classes A social class is a grouping of people into a set of hierarchical social categories, the most common being the upper, middle and lower classes. Membership in a social class can for example be dependent on education, wealth, occupation, inco ...

of England, and more broadly the wealth of the Western world. 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). Since 1994, Parr has been a member of

Magnum Photos Magnum Photos is an international photographic cooperative owned by its photographer-members, with offices in New York City, Paris, London and Tokyo. It was founded in 1947 in Paris by photographers Robert Capa, David Seymour (photographer), Davi ...

. 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 The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhib ...

, London, in 2002. 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.

Life and career

Personal life

Born in

Epsom Epsom is the principal town of the Borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Saxon landowner. The ...

, 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 The Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, commonly known as the Royal Photographic Society (RPS), is one of the world's oldest photographic societies. It was founded in London, England, in 1853 as the Photographic Society of London with ...

, as an early influence. He married Susan Mitchell and they have one child, Ellen Parr (born 1986). Parr was diagnosed with cancer in May 2021.

Photographer

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 Macro photography (or photomacrography or macrography, and sometimes macrophotography) is extreme close-up photography, usually of very small subjects and living organisms like insects, in which the size of the subject in the photograph is grea ...

, and employing saturated colour, a result of either the type of film and/or use of a

ring flash A ring flash is a circular light that is often operated with a camera lens in the center to take photographs. Unlike point light sources, a ring flash can illuminate a subject with minimal shadows by closely and evenly surrounding the optical axi ...

. 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. 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.

Manchester Polytechnic, 1970–1973

Parr studied photography at

Manchester Polytechnic Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has over 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties (Arts and Humanities, Business and Law, Health and Educat ...

from 1970 to 1972 with contemporaries

Daniel Meadows Daniel Meadows (born 1952) is an English photographer turned maker of digital stories, and a teacher of photography turned teacher of participatory media. Life and career as photographer Meadows was born in Great Washbourne, Gloucestershire, " ...

and

Brian Griffin H. Brian Griffinas shown in Brian Griffin's House of Payne is a fictional character from the American animated television series ''Family Guy''. An anthropomorphic white labrador retriever voiced by Seth MacFarlane, he is one of the show's mai ...

. Parr and Meadows collaborated on various projects, including working at

Butlin's Butlin's is a chain of large Seaside resort, seaside resorts in the United Kingdom. Butlin's was founded by Billy Butlin to provide affordable holidays for ordinary British families. Between 1936 and 1966, ten camps were built, including one ...

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'."

Rural communities, West Yorkshire, Greater Manchester and Ireland, 1975–1982

In 1975 Parr moved to

Hebden Bridge Hebden Bridge is a market town in the Upper Calder Valley in West Yorkshire, England. It is west of Halifax and 14 miles (21 km) north-east of Rochdale, at the confluence of the River Calder and the Hebden Water. The town is the largest ...

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. Parr spent five years photographing rural life in the area, focusing on the

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

(and some

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

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

Sean O'Hagan Sean O'Hagan (born 1959) is an Irish singer, songwriter, and arranger who leads the avant-pop band the High Llamas, which he founded in 1992. He is also known for being one half of the songwriting duo (with Cathal Coughlan) in Microdisney and ...

, writing in ''The Guardian'', said "It's easy to forget how quietly observational Parr was as a black-and-white photographer." 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 The Leica M3 is a 35 mm rangefinder camera by Ernst Leitz GmbH (now Leica Camera AG), introduced in 1954. It was a new starting point for Leitz, which until then had only produced screw-mount Leica cameras that were incremental improvements to i ...

with a 35 mm lens; although for ''Bad Weather'' he quickly switched to an underwater camera with a flashgun.

The working class, ''The Last Resort'', 1982–1985

In 1982 Parr and his wife moved to

Wallasey Wallasey () is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, in Merseyside, England; until 1974, it was part of the historic county of Cheshire. It is situated at the mouth of the River Mersey, at the north-eastern corner of the Wirral Pe ...

, England, and he switched permanently to colour photography, inspired by the work of US colour photographers, mostly

Joel Meyerowitz Joel Meyerowitz (born March 6, 1938) is an American street, portrait and landscape photographer. He began photographing in color in 1962 and was an early advocate of the use of color during a time when there was significant resistance to the id ...

, but also

William Eggleston William Eggleston (born July 27, 1939) is an American photographer. He is widely credited with increasing recognition for color photography as a legitimate artistic medium. Eggleston's books include ''William Eggleston's Guide'' (1976) and ''The ...

and Stephen Shore, and also the British

Peter Fraser Peter Fraser (; 28 August 1884 – 12 December 1950) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 24th prime minister of New Zealand from 27 March 1940 until 13 December 1949. Considered a major figure in the history of the New Zealand La ...

and

Peter Mitchell Peter or Pete Mitchell may refer to: Media *Pete Mitchell (broadcaster) (1958–2020), British broadcaster *Peter Mitchell (newsreader) (born 1960), Australian journalist *Peter Mitchell (photographer) (born 1943), British documentary photographer ...

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

The middle class, ''The Cost of Living'' (1987–1989)

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 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 Thatcherism is a form of British conservative ideology named after Conservative Party leader Margaret Thatcher that relates to not just her political platform and particular policies but also her personal character and general style of manag ...

. He photographed middle-class activities such as shopping, dinner parties and school open days, predominantly around Bristol and Bath in the southwest of England. It was published as his next book ''The Cost of Living'' (1989) and exhibited in Bath, London, Oxford and Paris. His book ''One Day Trip'' (1989) featured photographs taken when he accompanied people on a

booze cruise In British slang, a booze cruise is a brief trip from Britain to France or Belgium with the intent of taking advantage of lower prices, and buying personal supplies of (especially) alcohol or tobacco in bulk quantities. This is a legally allowe ...

to France, a commission from Mission Photographique Transmanche.

Mass tourism, ''Small World'' (1987–1994)

Between 1987 and 1994 Parr travelled internationally to make his next major series, a critique of mass tourism,The book ''Small World'' is reproduced at th
Magnum Photos website
published as ''Small World'' in 1995. A revised edition with additional photographs was published in 2007. It was exhibited in 1995–1996 in London, Paris, Edinburgh, and Palma in Spain and has continued to be shown in various locations since. He was visiting professor of photography at the University of Art and Design in Helsinki between 1990 and 1992.

Global consumerism, ''Common Sense'' (1995–1999)

Between 1995 and 1999 Parr made the series ''Common Sense'' about global consumerism. ''Common Sense'' was an exhibition of 350 prints, and a book published in 1999 with 158 images. The exhibition was first shown in 1999 and was staged simultaneously in forty-one venues in seventeen countries. The pictures depict the minutiae of consumer culture, and are intended to show the ways in which people entertain themselves. The photographs were taken with 35 mm ultra-saturated film for its vivid, heightened colours.

Magnum Photos

Parr joined Magnum Photos as an associate member in 1988. The vote on his inclusion as a full member in 1994 was divisive, with

Philip Jones Griffiths Philip Jones Griffiths (18 February 1936 – 19 March 2008) was a Welsh photojournalist known for his coverage of the Vietnam War. Biography Jones Griffiths was born in Rhuddlan in Denbighshire, North Wales, to Joseph Griffiths, who superv ...

circulating a plea to other members not to admit him. Parr achieved the necessary two-thirds majority by one vote. Magnum membership helped him work on editorial photography, and on editorial fashion photography for Paul Smith,

Louis Vuitton Louis Vuitton Malletier, commonly known as Louis Vuitton (, ), is a French high-end Luxury goods, luxury fashion house and company founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton (designer), Louis Vuitton. The label's LV monogram appears on most of its produc ...

, Galerie du jour Agnès B. and

Madame Figaro ''Madame Figaro'' is a French magazine supplement to the Saturday edition of the daily newspaper ''Le Figaro'', focusing on and catering to women. History and profile The first edition was published in 1980. ''Madame Figaro'' was spearheaded by ...

. In 2014 Parr was voted in as president of Magnum Photos International, a post he held for 3.5 years until 2017.

Collector

Photobooks

Parr is a collector and critic of photobooks.

Imagine (TV series) ''Imagine'' (typeset as ''imagine...'') is a wide-ranging arts series first broadcast on BBC One in 2003, hosted and executive produced by Alan Yentob. Most series consist of 4 to 7 episodes, each on a different topic. Episodes have been direct ...

, Season 2, Episode 4, The World According to Parr, 3 December 2003 His collaboration with the critic

Gerry Badger Gerald David "Gerry" Badger (born 1946) is an English writer and curator of photography, and a photographer. In 2018 he received the J Dudley Johnston Award from the Royal Photographic Society. Life and career Badger was born in 1946 in North ...

, ''The Photobook: A History'' (in three volumes) covers more than 1,000 examples of photobooks from the 19th century through to the present day. The first two volumes took eight years to complete. Tate Modern's retrospective exhibition of Daido Moriyama in London included many Moriyama books loaned from Parr displayed in vitrines.

Other items

Parr also collects postcards, photographs and various other items of vernacular and popular culture such as wallpaper, Saddam Hussein watches and prostitute advertising cards from phoneboxes (items with a photograph on them). Here too, items from his collections have been used as the basis for publications and exhibitions. Since the 1970s, Parr has collected and publicised the garish postcards made between the 1950s and 1970s by John Hinde and his team of photographers.

Curator

Parr was guest artistic director for the 2004

Rencontres d'Arles The Rencontres d’Arles (formerly called ''Rencontres internationales de la photographie d’Arles'') is an annual summer photography festival founded in 1970 by the Arles photographer Lucien Clergue, the writer Michel Tournier and the historia ...

festival of photography, guest curator of the ''New Typologies'' exhibition at the 2008

New York Photo Festival The New York Photo Festival was founded in January 2007 by Frank Evers and Daniel Power in an effort to establish a U.S. photo festival dedicated to the "future of contemporary photography" and to the exposure of new works. It takes place every ...

, and guest curator of Brighton Photo Biennial in 2010, which he called ''New Documents''. Critic Sean O'Hagan, writing in ''The Guardian'', said "Back in 2004, he was invited by the organisers of the annual Rencontres D'Arles to be guest curator. That year's Arles festival, in its range and ambition, remains the standard by which all subsequent Rencontres have been judged." Parr was artistic director of the newly established Bristol Photo Festival, scheduled to open in 2021. However in July 2020 he quit, due to his involvement with a 2018 reissue of the photobook ''London'' by Gian Butturini, after a campaign by an anthropology student at University College London, who called a pairing of photographs in it racist.

Film and television

Parr has been involved in making television, and documentary and other films. From 1990 to 1992 Parr collaborated with Nick Barker, taking photographs to accompany Barker's film ''Signs of the Times''. In 1997, Parr began producing his own television documentaries with Mosaic Film. In 2003 Parr was the subject of and appeared extensively in the ''

Imagine Imagine may refer to: * Imagination Music Albums * ''Imagine'' (Armin van Buuren album), 2008 * ''Imagine'' (Eva Cassidy album), 2002 * ''Imagine'' (Janice Vidal album), 2012 * ''Imagine'' (John Lennon album), 1971 ** ''Imagine: John Lennon' ...

'' BBC One TV series episode ''The World According to Parr'', directed and produced by

Rebecca Frayn Rebecca Frayn is an English documentary film maker, screenwriter, novelist and actress. Career Rebecca Frayn is a film maker and screen writer. She has directed a wide variety of quirky documentary essays for the BBC, Channel 4 and ITV on su ...

, and hosted and executive produced by

Alan Yentob Alan Yentob (born 11 March 1947) is a BBC presenter and retired British television executive. He stepped down as Creative Director in December 2015, and was chairman of the board of trustees of the charity Kids Company from 2003 until its collap ...

. He was cameraman on the film '' It's Nice Up North'' (2006) with comedian

Graham Fellows Graham David Fellows (born 22 May 1959) is an English actor and musician, best known for releasing the 1978 single "Jilted John", which reached #4 on the UK Singles Chart, and creating the comedic character John Shuttleworth in 1986. Jilted ...

(as his character John Shuttleworth). The film is a comic documentary filmed over several years in

Shetland Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the no ...

. In 2007 Parr took part in BBC Four's '' The Genius of Photography'', a six-part documentary series exploring the history of photography. In 2008 he was one of three judges on the Channel 4 series '' Picture This''. In 2014 Parr created "Turkey and Tinsel", a 60-minute deadpan and often hilarious observational video documentary about faux Christmas in small town England.

Teaching

Parr was a visiting lecturer at West Surrey College of Art & Design (now

University for the Creative Arts The University for the Creative Arts is a specialist art and design university in the south of England. It was formed in 2005 as University College for the Creative Arts at Canterbury, Epsom, Farnham, Maidstone and Rochester when the Kent Ins ...

) in Farnham, Surrey. In 2004 he was appointed professor of photography at the

University of Wales, Newport The University of Wales, Newport ( cy, Prifysgol Cymru, Casnewydd), was a university based in Newport, South Wales, before the merger that formed the University of South Wales in April 2013. The university had two campuses in Newport, Caerleon ...

. In 2013 he was appointed professor of photography at

Ulster University sco, Ulstèr Universitie , image = Ulster University coat of arms.png , caption = , motto_lang = , mottoeng = , latin_name = Universitas Ulidiae , established = 1865 – Magee College 1953 - Magee Un ...

in Belfast.

Martin Parr Foundation

The Martin Parr Foundation was founded in 2014. It opened premises in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

in October 2017.Niall Flynn,
Martin Parr: we don't appreciate British photography enough
.

Dazed ''Dazed'' (''Dazed & Confused'' until February 2014) is a bi-monthly British style magazine founded in 1991. It covers music, fashion, film, art, and literature. Dazed is published by Dazed Media, an independent media group known for producing ...

, 19 September 2017. Retrieved 22 October 2017 The Foundation houses Parr's own archive, and his collection of prints and book dummies made by other photographers—mainly British and Irish photography, and work by several photographers from abroad who have photographed in the UK. There is a gallery open to the public—its first exhibition was Parr's ''Black Country Stories''—and it is a hub for talks, screenings and events. The Foundation is located in Paintworks in south East Bristol. Parr is the Foundation's main source of income.

Reception

The German photographic curator Thomas Weski has said:

Martin Parr is a chronicler of our age... Leisure, consumption and communication are the concepts that this British photographer has been researching for several decades now on his worldwide travels... Parr enables us to see things that have seemed familiar to us in a completely new way.

Dan Rule, writing in ''The Age'', has said:

Parr's signature is his ability not only to isolate the most evocative of human details, but to elevate such visual fragments to that of the wider societal signpost or glyph.

Honours and awards

* 2004: Professor of photography,

. * 2005: Honorary Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society (HonFRPS),

, Bath, UK. * 2006: Honorary Masters Degree,

* 2006:

Dr. Erich Salomon Award The Dr. Erich Salomon Award (Dr.-Erich-Salomon-Preis), dedicated to Erich Salomon, is a lifetime achievement award for photojournalists given by the German Society for Photography (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Photographie, DGPh). Winners *1971 ''St ...

, GermanyThe_Dr._Erich_Salomon_Award_of_the_German_Society_for_Photography
_(DGPh).html" ;"title="German Society for Photography">The Dr. Erich Salomon Award of the German_Society_for_Photography">The_Dr._Erich_Salomon_Award_of_the_German_Society_for_Photography
_(DGPh),_Deutsche_Gesellschaft_für_Photographie._Retrieved_19_October_2017. *_2008:_Royal_Photographic_Society#Centenary_Medal.html" ;"title="German Society for Photography
(DGPh)">German Society for Photography">The Dr. Erich Salomon Award of the German Society for Photography
(DGPh), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Photographie. Retrieved 19 October 2017. * 2008: Royal Photographic Society#Centenary Medal">Centenary Medal, Royal Photographic Society, Bath, UK. * 2008: Doctor of Arts, honorary degree, Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU), in recognition for his ongoing contribution to photography and to the Manchester School of Art, MMU School of Art. * 2008: Lifetime Achievement Award, PHotoEspaña. * 2008: International Award from the

Photographic Society of Japan The is an organization set up in December 1951 to advance photography in Japan. Its membership of about 1,400 includes both amateur and professional photographers, as well as researchers, critics, and people in the photographic industry. Its add ...

. * 2014: Exceptional Achievement in Photography, ''

Amateur Photographer ''Amateur Photographer'' is a British photography magazine, published weekly by Kelsey Media. The magazine provides articles on equipment reviews, photographic technique, and profiles of professional photographers. About the magazine ''Am ...

,'' London. * 2014:

Lucie Award The Lucie Awards is an annual event honoring achievements in photography, founded in 2003 by Hossein Farmani. The Lucie Awards is an annual gala ceremony presented by the Lucie Foundation (a 501 (c)3 non-profit charitable organization), honoring ...

, Achievement in Documentary Photography, Lucie Foundation. * 2016: Recognition for Significant Contribution in the Field of Visual Arts,

Royal Academy of Arts The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its purpo ...

, London. * 2017: Outstanding Contribution to Photography prize,

World Photography Organisation The World Photography Organisation is a global platform for photography initiatives and helps artists working in photography broaden the conversation around their work. Established in 2007 by CEO Scott Gray, in the United kingdom it involves peop ...

. Parr was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) in the 2021 Birthday Honours for services to photography.

Publications

Monographs

*''Early Works''. Bristol: RRB, 2019. ** Paris: Maison CF, 2019. French-language version. *''A Year in the Life of Chew Stoke Village. Photographs by Martin Parr'' Bristol: RRB PhotoBooks, 2022. **''Chew Stoke'' Paris: Maison CF, 2022. . French-language version.

Retrospectives, private publications, and very limited publications

Papers and zines

Postcards

*''Home and Abroad.'' London: British Council, 1994. . A set of postcards, as the catalogue of a travelling exhibition. Text by Brett Rogers. Not to be confused with the book of the same title. *''Love Cube.'' tockholm Gun Gallery, 2007. . Twenty-seven cards in a box, with a booklet. Photographs by Parr, text by Johan Croneman. * ''Royal Wedding''. Paris: Verlhac, 2011. . Set of 10 postcards inside small album. Text (in French) by Stéphane Bern. * ''Royal Jubilee''. Set of 10 postcards inside small album. ** London: Pavilion, 2012. . Text (in English) by Stéphane Bern. ** Paris: Verlhac, 2012. . French-language version. Text (in French) by Stéphane Bern.

Books with others

Books edited or with contributions by Parr

*''Tony Ray-Jones.'' Paris: Maison CF, 2019. . Photographs by

Tony Ray-Jones Tony Ray-Jones (7 June 1941 – 13 March 1972) was an English photographer. Life Born Holroyd Anthony Ray-Jones in Wells, Somerset, he was the youngest son of Raymond Ray-Jones (1886–1942), a painter and etcher who died when Tony was ...

. Edited and introduced by Martin Parr.

Books about Parr

These also include photographs by Parr. *''Martin Parr'' by

Val Williams Val Williams is a British curator and author who has become an authority on British photography. She is the Professor of the History and Culture of Photography at the London College of Communication, part of the University of the Arts London, and ...

. **London: Phaidon, 2002. . Hardback. **''Martin Parr.'' Rome: Contrasto, 2002. . Italian-language version. **Berlin: Phaidon, 2008. . German-language version. **London: Phaidon, 2004. . Paperback. **2nd ed. London: Phaidon, 2014. . *''Martin Parr vu par...''. Bonsecours, France: Édition Point de vues, 2005. By children; in French. *''Martin Parr'' by Sandra S. Phillips. **Phaidon 55. London: Phaidon, 2007. . **Paris: Phaidon, 2007. . French-language edition. **London: Phaidon, 2013. *''Martin Parr'', text by Alessandra Mauro. **I Grandi Fotografi: Magnum Photos. Testimonianze e visioni del nostro tempo. Milan: Hachette Fascicoli, 2005. . In Italian. **Grandes fotográfos Magnum Photos 20. arcelona Salvat 007 . In Spanish.

Exhibitions

*1972: ''Butlins by the Sea'' (with Daniel Meadows),

Impressions Gallery Impressions Gallery is an independent contemporary photography gallery in Bradford, England. It was established in 1972 and located in York until moving to Bradford in 2007. Impressions Gallery also runs a photography bookshop, publishes its own ...

, York, UK. *1974: ''Home Sweet Home'', Impressions Gallery, York, UK. *1977: ''Hebden Bridge'' and ''Beauty Spots'',

The Photographers' Gallery The Photographers' Gallery was founded in London by Sue Davies opening on 14 January 1971, as the first public gallery in the United Kingdom devoted solely to photography. It is also home to the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize, established i ...

, London. *1989–1991: ''The Cost of Living'', Royal Photographic Society, Bath, 1989/1990; The Photographers' Gallery, London, 1990;

Museum of Modern Art, Oxford Modern Art Oxford is an art gallery established in 1965 in Oxford, England. From 1965 to 2002, it was called The Museum of Modern Art, Oxford. The gallery presents exhibitions of modern and contemporary art. It has a national and internationa ...

, 1990; Gallery Jacques Gordat, Paris, 1991. *2002–2005: ''Retrospective, Martin Parr Photoworks 1971 – 2000'',

, London, 2002; National Museum of Photography, Film, and Television, Bradford, 2002;

Kunsthal The Kunsthal ( en, Art Hall) is an art museum in Rotterdam. It opened in 1992. Overview The museum is situated in the Museumpark of Rotterdam next to the Natuurhistorisch Museum Rotterdam, and in the vicinity of the Museum Boijmans Van Beuni ...

, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 2003;

Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía The ''Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía'' ("Queen Sofía National Museum Art Centre"; MNCARS) is Spain's national museum of 20th-century art. The museum was officially inaugurated on September 10, 1992, and is named for Queen Sofía. It ...

, Madrid, 2003;

National Museum of Photography The National Museum of Photography (''Nationale Fotomuseum'') is located in the Black Diamond, a modern waterfront extension to the Royal Danish Library in Copenhagen. History The National Museum of Photography, founded in 1996, moved into its cu ...

, Copenhagen, 2003;

Deichtorhallen The Deichtorhallen in Hamburg, Germany, is one of Europe's largest art centers for contemporary art and photography. The two historical buildings dating from 1911 to 1913 are iconic in style, with their open steel-and-glass structures. Their archi ...

, Hamburg, 2004. ''Works 1971–2001'',

Maison européenne de la photographie The Maison Européenne de la Photographie (MEP; European house of photography), located in the historic heart of Paris, is a center for contemporary photographic art opened in February 1996. Location and activities The Hotel Henault de Cantobre, ...

, Paris, 2005. Curated by Val Williams and organized by Brigitte Lardinois. Photographs from the 1970s–2001, from the series ''Butlins by the Sea'', ''June Street'', ''Home Sweet Home'', ''The Last Resort'', ''The Cost of Living'', ''Small World'' and ''Autoportraits''. *2007: Retrospective, Month of Photography Asia, Singapore. Parr's exhibition was the main show. *2008/2009: ''ParrWorld'', touring exhibition, Haus der Kunst, Munich, 2008; Graphic Design Museum, Breda, Netherlands, 2008;

Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume Jeu de Paume ( en, Real Tennis Court) is an arts centre for modern and postmodern photography and media. It is located in the north corner (west side) of the Tuileries Gardens next to the Place de la Concorde in Paris. In 2004, Galerie Nationale ...

, Paris, 2009;

Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art (also known simply as (the) Baltic, stylised as BALTIC) is a centre for contemporary art located on the south bank of the River Tyne in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England. It hosts a frequently changing variety ...

, Gateshead, UK, 2009. *2013/2014: ''Only in England: Photographs by Tony Ray-Jones and Martin Parr'',

Media Space Media spaces are "electronic settings in which groups of people can work together, even when they are not present in the same place and time. In a media space, people can create real-time visual and acoustic environments that span physically s ...

Science Museum A science museum is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, industry and industrial machinery, etc. Modern trends in mu ...

, London, September 2013 – March 2014; National Media Museum, Bradford, March–June 2014;

Walker Art Gallery The Walker Art Gallery is an art gallery in Liverpool, which houses one of the largest art collections in England outside London. It is part of the National Museums Liverpool group. History of the Gallery The Walker Art Gallery's collection ...

, Liverpool, February–June 2015. With Parr's ''The Non-Conformists'' and material from the National Media Museum's

archive, curated by Parr and Greg Hobson. *2014: ''Black Country Stories'', New Art Gallery, Walsall and

Wolverhampton Art Gallery Wolverhampton Art Gallery is located in the City of Wolverhampton, in the West Midlands, United Kingdom. The building was funded and constructed by local contractor Philip Horsman (1825–1890), and built on land provided by the municipal aut ...

. Commissioned by Multistory, Parr photographed the four boroughs of the

Black Country The Black Country is an area of the West Midlands county, England covering most of the Metropolitan Boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall. Dudley and Tipton are generally considered to be the centre. It became industrialised during its ro ...

, documenting the traditions and communities that live there. This work produced the photobook, ''Martin Parr: Black Country Stories'' (2014), along with four films, including ''Teddy Gray's Sweet Factory'' (2011). *2014: ''Paris'', Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris *2017: ''

Sony World Photography Awards The World Photography Organisation is a global platform for photography initiatives and helps artists working in photography broaden the conversation around their work. Established in 2007 by CEO Scott Gray, in the United kingdom it involves peop ...

& Martin Parr – 2017 Exhibition,''

Somerset House Somerset House is a large Neoclassical complex situated on the south side of the Strand in central London, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The Georgian era quadrangle was built on the site of a Tudor palace ("O ...

, London. Three rooms dedicated to Parr, with "black and white images from his early career, alongside some of the artist's most talked about work, books and films and original exhibition posters." Also shown were a "selection of the winning, shortlisted and commended work from the World Photography Organisation's annual photography competi in." *2018: ''Only Human: Photographs by Martin Parr''. National Portrait Gallery, London. *2019: ''In Black & White: Martin Parr & Tony Ray-Jones''. Galerie Clémentine de la Féronnière, Paris. *2022-2023 : ''

Henri Cartier-Bresson Henri Cartier-Bresson (; 22 August 1908 – 3 August 2004) was a French humanist photographer considered a master of candid photography, and an early user of 35mm film. He pioneered the genre of street photography, and viewed photography as cap ...

with Martin Parr - Reconciliation'',

Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson The Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation (French: ''Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson''), also known as Fondation HCB, is an art gallery and non-profit organisation in Paris that was established to preserve and show the work of Henri Cartier-Bresson an ...

, Paris.

Films

*'' It's Nice Up North'' (2006) – cameraman

Collections

Parr's work is held in the following permanent collections: *

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...

, Chicago, Illinois *

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

, London *

Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

, London

Notes

References

External links

*
Martin Parr Agent: DMB Represents
includes photographs and latest projects o
the freshly made section
*
Martin Parr at Magnum Photos
includes many of his photographs
'The World According To Parr'
Imagine series, with Alan Yentob, season 2, episode 4 (video)
Martin Parr: Mischievous Ironist – interview with Jim Casper
(audio)
Interview with Martin Parr from 'Tous Photographes!'

'Contacts Vol3 Martin Parr'
(video)
'TateShots: Martin Parr, studio visit – Martin Parr on Photographing Britain'
(video) {{DEFAULTSORT:Parr, Martin 1952 births Living people People from Epsom 20th-century photographers Alumni of Manchester Metropolitan University Magnum photographers English photojournalists Street photographers Social documentary photographers English book and manuscript collectors Photography academics Photography critics Photography curators English contemporary artists Alumni of Ulster University Royal Photographic Society members Deltiologists Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Photography museums and galleries in England 20th-century English artists 21st-century English artists 21st-century photographers Academics of the University of Wales