In 1975, at the age of twenty-three, Martin Parr and his partner (and future wife) Susie Mitchell began what would become a long association with the residents of Hebden Bridge, a small town in Yorkshire. Over a five-year period, Susie wrote an account of the daily events they witnessed, particularly those involving the "Non-conformists", named after the Methodist and Baptist chapels that were springing up in the area. Parr photographed both the wider environment and the blue-collar lives of factory workers, miners, farmers, churchgoers, gamekeepers, pigeon fanciers and "husbands taken by the nose".
Easter Monday: The Ancient Order of Henpecked Husbands annual general meeting , Hebden Bridge, Nazebottom, West Yorkshire, England, 1977
Steep Lane Baptist Chapel buffet lunch; in the centre Mrs Doris Wilson, Calderdale, Sowerby, West Yorkshire, England, 1977
Mayor of Todmorden's inaugural banquet , Todmorden, West Yorkshire, England, 1977
Mr Tom Greenwood cleaning, Hebden Bridge, Hangingroyd Road, West Yorkshire, England, 1975
Lord Savile's Gamekeepers: Mr Frank Ideson, Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, England, 1975
The idea for Bad Weather was born from Martin Parr’s desire to make a body of work that focused on a British obsession. The weather seemed like an ideal subject. In this black-and-white series, shot with a waterproof camera and flash and published in 1982, Parr captures everyday moments of his fellow citizens dealing with typical British weather conditions: showers, drizzle, snowstorms. “Usually you’re told to only take photographs when the light is good and the sun is shining,” Parr says, “and I liked the idea of only taking photographs in bad weather, as a way of subverting the traditional rules.”
Quinnsworth supermarket entrance, Sligo, Ireland, May 1982
O'Connell Bridge, Dublin, Ireland, October 1981
Jubilee street party , Elland, West Yorkshire, England, July 1977
York, North Yorkshire, England, November 1981
Elland, West Yorkshire, England, December 1978
Martin Parr ha realizzato questa serie tra il 1982 e il 1985. Tra satira e crudeltà - ma non senza tenerezza nei riguardi dei connazionali -, ritrae famiglie a basso reddito in vacanza a New Brighton, piccola località balneare in declino vicino a Liverpool. Vista attraverso l'obiettivo di Parr, quella che sarebbe dovuta apparire come una località di villeggiatura estiva assume l'aria di una zona industriale. In The Last resort Parr manifesta una certa nostalgia per gli anni Sassanta e denuncia la fine di un mondo (il mondo operaio) e dei suoi valori, nonché l'avvento di una nuova concezione consumistica della vita.
New Brighton, England, 1985
New Brighton, England, 1985
New Brighton, England, 1985
New Brighton, England, 1985
New Brighton, England, 1985
In the 1990s, Martin Parr turned his gaze to the rest of the world and the strange universe of mass tourism. In the series "Small World" (1989-2008), Parr followed the footsteps of the average tourist that we all are and laid bare the great farce of travel, which is, for most people, a leisure activity that has only recently become possible, thanks to new large planes and low-cost flights. Parr's analysis of tourism holds up a particularly cruel mirror to us. Standardized to the point of absurdity, the world of tourism increasingly resembles a watered-down and homogenized dream, whose ultimate model may be Las Vegas.
America Dream Park, Shangai, China, 1997
Mexico, 2002
Pisa, Italy, 1990
Machu Picchu, Peru, 2008
Kleine Scheidegg, Switzerland, 1994
Published in 1999, the series "Common Sense" represents a close study of mass consumption and waste. Combining all the elements that characterized Martin Parr's photography in the 1970s and 1980s, the series continues the author's obsessive photographic search for all that is vulgar, off-key, absurd. When presented in an exhibition, "Common Sense" is installed as a large and compact series of brightly colored images juxtaposed, printed cheaply on A3 paper using a color Xerox machine. The series has been exhibited widely around the world.
Benidorm, Spain, 1997
The Lips Have It, 2016
Florida, USA, 1998
Benidorm, Spain, 1997
Ireland, 1997
In the UK, the furthest from the nearest coast is no more than 120 miles, and with so much sea around it’s no surprise that the country has a deep-rooted tradition of photographing the beach. Here, people can relax, be themselves and show off all the little aspects of the slightly eccentric British behaviour. “In the US we have a strong tradition of street photography,” says the author, “in the UK we have the beach.” Martin Parr has been photographing these places for decades (the images here range from 1986 to 2018), documenting all the quirky aspects of the tradition, including close-ups of people sunbathing, swimming and enjoying picnics.
Sorrento, Italy, 2014
Chowpatty Beach, Mumbai, India, 2018
Miami, Florida, USA, 1998
Waymouth, Dorset, England, 2000
Benidorm, Spain, 1997
According to Martin Parr, apart from dance, photography is probably the most democratic form of expression. From Sao Paulo in Brazil to the Scottish Isles, for over thirty-five years Parr has photographed lively dancers, aerobics classes, tea dances.
A Hindu Wedding, Delhi, India, 2009
Royal Nawaab restaurant, 21st birthday party, Levenshulme, Manchester, England, 2018
Whitby Goth Weekend: New Model Army, Spa Pavillion, Whitby, North Yorkshire, England, 2014
Pride, Manchester, Englad, 2018
Grecian ball, Christ's Hospital School, West Sussex, England, 2011