Martin Parr

By Louise Crux

Introduction

Martin Parr was born on the 23rd of May 1952 in Epsom, Surrey. He is well known for his photographic projects which take a critical look at society today which specifies at foreign travel and tourism and other modern takes on society. He began to work as a professional photographer and has taught photography on an advanced level from the mid – 70’s. When he first started out he was recognised for his black and white photography based in the north England. Pictures such as ‘Bad Weather’(1982) and two years later A Fair Day (1984). However later that year in 1984 he switched to colour photography. This was the work resulting to, Last Resort: Photographs of New Brighton, which waspublished in 1986. Since 1994 Martin has been a member of Magnum Photos. Recent work has included a collaboration with designer Paul Smith in Ilford, capturing people wearing Smith's Autumn/Winter 2007 collection.

Martin’s first contact with the medium of film was his work with Nick Barker for 2 years from 1990 to ’92, taking pictures to accompany Nick’s film Signs of the Times. In 1997, Martin began producing his own television documentaries with Mosaic Film, which produces compelling and high quality documentaries which push the boundaries of documentary filmmaking practice and content.

He was cameraman on the film, ‘It's Nice Up North’ with comedian Graham Fellows as his character John Shuttle worth. The film is a comic documentary filmed over several years in Shetland which was released in 2006.

Documentary filmmaker

CollectingBesides being a photographer Martin had been a keen collector of postcards, photographs and many other items of collection. On which have been used as a basis of his publications. Since the 70s, Martin has collected and publicised the garish postcards which have been made between the 50s and 70s by John Hinde and his team of photographers. The images made by John and his team are a key influence on Martin's colour photography. As an admirer of his work he has published several photo books as well as work about photo books. The Photo book: A History (which is written in two volumes) which covers more than 1,000 examples of photo books from the 19th century up to the present day. The work was a collaboration with the critic Gerry Badger which took eight years to complete.