Martin Parr - one of the most significant documentary photographers of post war Britain

I can’t shoot street photography where I live. My city is just so boring. I need to travel more to explore exotic places to be able to shoot more.” That’s something I thought some time ago about my photography. Today I would like to challenge this with an example of one of the world’s most famous and successful documentary photographers who defies that idea and will inspire you more explore your neighbourhood. Let’s talk about Martin Parr. 

Martin Parr is one of the world’s most famous and successful documentary photographers, featured in more than 80 exhibitions, with more than 80 photobooks published. His work covers topics such as a mass tourism, consumerism or lifestyle. Brightly-lit and colour-saturated images, often funny, interesting or even exaggerated are trademarks of Parr’s style.

Parr was born in 1952 in England. He started to be interested in photography during his teen years. His grandfather was an amateur photographer and lent him a camera  when they went out shooting together. In the 1970s Parr was shooting black and white with a 35mm Leica M3. In the 80s he used a lot a medium format and on-board flash, and switched to digital in the mid-2000s. In 2006 he got first small digital Sony camera and later a Canon 5D.

During his school years, he shot photo stories for the school magazine and learned in the darkroom.  He was accepted to full time photography courses at Manchester Polytechnic, which were 3 very important years for his career and skills.

Parr was introduced to contemporary photography by his art teacher in grammar school. A big inspiration was also Creative Camera magazine, which featured a lot of contemporary photographers like Lee Friedlander and Cartier-Bresson. But it wasn’t all that easy. It’s important to understand that fine art photography wasn’t something respected that well inside the art circles back then, unlike today, when we have so many opportunities to visit galleries and photography shows. Even though the museum of Modern Arts established the Department of Photography in the 1930s in New York, the UK museums and art establishment didn’t like its presence and saw it as a populist move.

When thinking about documentary photographers, I usually have a pretty clear idea what social issue, conflict or war the photographer should be covering. However, Parr’s main subject has been leisure for almost 50 years of his career. What he likes about photographing people during leisure is that, during the free time people have, they do what they like and it kinds of defines the society and who are the people within that society.

Martin Parr Margate, Kent. England, G.B. 1986.

Copyright: Martin Parr / Magnum Photos

As you know if you follow my Instagram and other videos, I love colour street photography, but when we look at the great photography masters, the vast majority of them used black and white while shooting fine art, but also documentary photography. Now, this was of course because: a) color film was not readily available and b) it was expensive. However, even when it became more accessible, a lot of photographers still opted not to use it. Parr already shot color film for the Home Sweet Home project in the early 70’s  and fully transitioned to color in 1982. He was using mostly Fuji 400 Superior and Agfa Ultra, which resulted in the bright colours his photographs are known for.

In his own words, his attitude is to show the good and the bad side of contemporary life. “When I am out shooting, it is a bit like a soap opera. I identify the places where I want to photograph, and then I wait for the right characters to fall into place.” He said. 

What I would say is—a lot of conflicts and issues originate based on the absence of something. It can be because of money, rights, injustice and so on. What I like about Parr’s photography is that he covers the other extreme: having too much money or too much free time. His photographs are in great contrast to what you see when you open your favourite news website. I think it is great to document such common things like beach life or dog shows, because when the future generations will look into archives, they will not see only war photography, social issues, or selfies from Instagram. But they will also see a common life; sometimes funny, sometimes surreal, but an unstaged view of Parr’s perception of reality. 

Unlike the old masters and their photographs, which many people call timeless, Parr’s photographs are definitely not timeless. They are very much dated: but it is not necessarily a bad thing. It is, for example, the reason Parr was able to capture changes in Britain pretty accurately.

Parr was influenced by many famous photographers such as Hernry Cartier-Bresson, Bill Brandt, Robert Frank and Garry Winogrand. However, the biggest inspiration probably comes from works of Tony Ray-Jones, who was also a documentary photographer from England mostly focusing on festivals and leisure activities with surreal humour. This is also the theme of Parr’s colorful photographs. 

Brighton Beach, West Susex, 1966. Tony Ray-Jones

© The National Media Museum, Bradford, UK

When we talk about colour, Parr actually does not post process his own images. Not that the images are not processed at all, but he does not do it himself. He explains that in the interview for Canon- Europe, “I’ve never processed a file in my life. I just know that when I look at the pictures they look right. Louis, who does that work for me, knows my palette inside out. He knows what I like, how I want them printed, so it’s very rare that I say, ‘I don’t think that print’s quite right’. If I do, we tweak it.” 

When asked about pumping up the colours in Photoshop Parr replied, “No, not at all, I just let the colour look as natural as possible, but of course flash does help saturation.”

Talking about the use of flash in the daylight, it is for sure one of Parr’s signature techniques. When we, for example, look at his photographs from Tesco, Marks and Spencer or Iceland supermarkets, the flash helps to express the alienation which is so often a trademark of these large anonymous stores. 

Martin Parr, GB, ENGLAND, Salford, Tesco Supermarket. 1986.

Copyright: Martin Parr/Magnum Photos

Looking at Parr’s work, it is certain that we are looking at something completely different than the majority of images people usually show when they want to present their portfolios. But how do you get into this type of photography? One of the first photographic jobs Parr had was photographing at Butlin’s holiday camp. Which was a holiday resort providing affordable holidays for ordinary British families. Parr and his friend were paid to make portraits and casual photographs for Butlin’s customers. After that, they were free to do their own work.

For me, it is a nice fresh approach in times when photography is bigger than ever and we are overwhelmed with all kinds of “wanna be perfect” photography. This constant chase for perfect selfies, breathtaking landscapes or polished street shots posted on Instagram is everywhere. Even I have been victim of this trend when I filter my photographs on the basis of is this photo super beautiful or is it something no one has ever photographed? But when we try to produce those magazine-like photographs, we end up exactly with that. Cliche magazine-type photographs. The more they try to look new and amazing, the more ordinary they appear in my opinion. 

Now, not to say Parr’s photgraphs are not top-quality photographs, and I wouldn’t dare to criticize Parr’s work with my experience. What I mean is that, when I saw his images I was able to appreciate how you can create art basically anywhere you live. You don’t need to be an Instagram influencer traveling to exotic places to shoot amazing images.  And when you think about it, it does not even make sense.  It is your goal to make common things look interesting. In today’s global age where your images are shared around the world, every location is exotic and interesting for someone living somewhere else. So, don’t be upset you are not living in Paris and that’s why you can’t shoot street photography, or any type of photography, because the place you live in is just “boring.” I think—and Parr’s photographs are great example of this—that any place can be amazing, and if you truly like photography it doesn’t really matter where are you live. He has shown other photographers and photography fans how to look at the world differently.

Martin Parr, England, County Show, 2015

Copyright: Martin Parr / Magnum Photos

Parr also made several films, which you can find on his website, and you can see clips from some of his films there. The documentary films consist of dialogues with the subjects he photographed and they are a nice trip back to the late 90s and early 2000s. I would say the style of the website nicely compliments his work.  You will see what I mean once you visit it.  

Parr started Martin Parr Foundation which opened in 2017 in Bristol where he lives. The aim of the foundation is to preserve the archive of Martin Parr, hold a growing collection of works by selected British and Irish photographers, and house an expanding library of British and Irish photo-books. The foundation has a gallery and library with more than 5000 books by both British and Irish photographers, as well as complete back catalogues of important publications such as Creative Camera and Camera Work for educational and research purposes. However, Parr is also an object collector—he collects postcards but also some, let’s say, unusual objects. He refers to them as “sheer madness.” To better understand what he means by that, just take a look at, for example, a Saddam Hussein Watch collection. If you are more interested in that, I would recommend Parr’s book Objects from 2008.

Martin Parr is also a member of the prestigious Magnum Photos – an international  photographic cooperative  with some of the most well-known photographers. Founded by legendary photographers such as Robert Capa,  David “Chim” Seymour,  Henri Cartier-Bresson, George Rodger or William Vandivert. Just to give you an idea of how hard it is to become a member, it actually takes four years to become a full-fledged member from the time you become a Nominee. Members gather once per year to vote on potential new members and they usually accept just one or two photographers. Now, the interesting thing is, it wasn’t actually easy for Parr to join, as some of the members of more conservative wing within Magnum were against it. However, he was eventually able to get the two thirds required to be a member by one vote and joined in 1994. In 2014 Parr was actually voted in as president of the Magnum Photos International, a post he held for three and a half years until 2017.

Martin Parr is currently working on a new show and book about his images from Ireland for autumn 2020. If you want to find out more about what is Martin Parr currently up to, you can check out all his events on his website; I will leave the link in description. You can also buy Martin Parr’s books on his website where you can also buy signed copies. Parr also runs a YouTube channel where he interviews his colleague photographers, and I have to say it is one of my favourite channels, so definitely check it out. I will leave the link in the description. 

As Val Williams says in Martin Parr’s retrospective, which I have reviewed a few weeks ago,

“Parr’s photography is essentially a reflection of intense curiosity. It is umcomfortable because, in many ways it brings out the worst in us, makes us scornful or silly, snobbish or cinical. In the same way, his photographs are kind of practical joke, seemingly harmless but destined to cause us to make fools of ourselves.”

If you're interested in learning more, check out this book: "Martin Parr" by Martin Parr and Val Williams: This comprehensive monograph covers Parr's extensive career, exploring his distinctive approach to photography and his fascination with the everyday. The book includes an in-depth interview with the photographer, as well as critical essays that contextualize his work within the broader history of photography.

Check out Martin Parr:

Website: https://www.martinparr.com, https://www.martinparrfoundation.org

Instagram: @martinparrstudio

Youtube: Martin Parr Foundation

Check out Magnum Photos:

Website: https://www.magnumphotos.com

Instagram: @magnumphotos

Other documentary photographers