Martin ParrCBE (born 23 May 1952) is a British documentary photographer,[3]photojournalist and photobook collector. He is known for his photographic projects that take an intimate, satirical and anthropological[4] 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 (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.[4] He has had around 40 solo photobooks published, and has featured in around 80 exhibitions worldwide – including the international touring exhibition ParrWorld,[5] and a retrospective at the Barbican Arts Centre, London, in 2002.[6]
The Martin Parr Foundation, founded in 2014, and registered as a charity in 2015[7] 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.[8]
Parr in 2014
Personal life
Born in Epsom, Surrey,[9] Parr wanted to become a documentary photographer from the age of fourteen. He cites his grandfather, George Parr, an amateur photographer[9] and fellow of the Royal Photographic Society, as an early influence.[4][10]:13,14 He married Susan Mitchell and they have one child, Ellen Parr (born 1986). Parr was diagnosed with cancer in May 2021.[11]
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.[10]:57 ... 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.[10]:69,70
Parr's aesthetic is close-up, through use of a macro lens, and employing saturated[12] colour, a result of either the type of film and/or use of a ring flash. 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.[4] 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.[13]
Manchester Polytechnic, 1970–1973
Parr studied photography at Manchester Polytechnic from 1970 to 1972 with contemporaries Daniel Meadows and Brian Griffin.[14]:24 Parr and Meadows collaborated on various projects,[15]:14 including working at Butlin's as roving photographers.[16] 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'."[10]:49,50[14]:17
Rural communities, West Yorkshire, Greater Manchester and Ireland, 1975–1982
In 1975 Parr moved to Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire[10]:23[17] where he would complete his first mature work.[18] 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 (and some Baptist) 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.[17] 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.[17] His series The Non-Conformists was widely exhibited at the time and published as a book in 2013.[19][20] Critic Sean O'Hagan, writing in The Guardian, said "It's easy to forget how quietly observational Parr was as a black-and-white photographer."[20]
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 with a 35mm lens;[17][21] although for Bad Weather he quickly switched to an underwater camera with a flashgun.[22]
The working class, The Last Resort, 1982–1985
In 1982 Parr and his wife moved to Wallasey, England, and he switched permanently to colour photography, inspired by the work of US colour photographers, mostly Joel Meyerowitz, but also William Eggleston and Stephen Shore, and also the British Peter Fraser and Peter Mitchell.[10]:31 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."[23] During the summers of 1983, 1984 and 1985[10]:35–36 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,[24]Gerry Badger has said of The Last Resort:[25]
It is difficult from a perspective of almost a quarter of a century to underestimate [sic] the 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."[26]
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.[27]
He and his wife moved to Bristol in 1987,[28] 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. He photographed middle-class activities such as shopping, dinner parties and school open days,[29] predominantly around Bristol and Bath[10]:42 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 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,[30][31][32][n 1] 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.
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.[34] 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 35mm ultra-saturated film for its vivid, heightened colours.[34]
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 circulating a plea to other members not to admit him.[35] Parr achieved the necessary two-thirds majority by one vote. Magnum membership helped him work on editorial photography,[9] and on editorial fashion photography for Paul Smith, Louis Vuitton, Galerie du jour Agnès B. and Madame Figaro.[9][10]:60–61[36]
In 2014 Parr was voted in as president of Magnum Photos International,[37] a post he held for 3.5 years until 2017.[38]
Collector
Photobooks
Parr is a collector and critic of photobooks.[39][40][41] His collaboration with the critic Gerry Badger, 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.[4] Tate Modern's retrospective exhibition of Daidō 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[39] such as wallpaper, Saddam Hussein watches and prostitute advertising cards from phoneboxes (items with a photograph on them).[40][42] 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.[16]
Curator
Parr was guest artistic director for the 2004 Rencontres d'Arles festival of photography,[43] guest curator of the New Typologies exhibition at the 2008 New York Photo Festival,[44] and guest curator of Brighton Photo Biennial in 2010, which he called New Documents.[43][45] 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."[43]
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.[46][47][48][49]
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 BBC One TV series episode The World According to Parr, directed and produced by Rebecca Frayn, and hosted and executive produced by Alan Yentob.[42]
He was cameraman on the film It's Nice Up North (2006) with comedian Graham Fellows (as his character John Shuttleworth). The film is a comic documentary filmed over several years in Shetland.[50]
In 2007 Parr took part in BBC Four's The Genius of Photography, a six-part documentary series exploring the history of photography.[9] In 2008 he was one of three judges on the Channel 4 series Picture This.[9]
In 2014 Parr created "Turkey and Tinsel", a 60-minute deadpan and often hilarious observational video documentary about faux Christmas in small town England.
The Martin Parr Foundation was founded in 2014. It opened premises in Bristol in October 2017.[8][53] 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.[8] There is a gallery open to the public—its first exhibition was Parr's Black Country Stories[53]—and it is a hub for talks, screenings and events.[54] The Foundation is located in Paintworks in south East Bristol. Parr is the Foundation's main source of income.[8]
The German photographic curator Thomas Weski has said:[9]
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.
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.
London: Zwemmer, 1982. ISBN0-302-99996-5. With 54 numbered but uncaptioned black and white plates, and texts by Michael Fish and Peter Turner, and an afterword, "Thoughts on Bad Weather", based on a conversation of Parr with Turner and Heather Forbes.
Books on Books 17. New York, NY: Errata Editions, 2014. ISBN978-1-935004-33-2. Essays by Thomas Weski, "Even the Queen gets wet"; Peter Turner; and Jeffrey Ladd.
Calderdale Photographs. [Leeds, Yorkshire]: Calderdale Museums Services, 1984. OCLC441700642. A 12-page catalogue, carrying the explanation "Prepared as a record of Martin Parr's work in the Calder Valley between 1974 and 1980, and to link with the exhibition of his photographs held at Piece Hall Art Gallery, Halifax from 14 January to 19 February 1984."
A Fair Day: Photographs from the West Coast of Ireland. Wallasey: Promenade, 1984. ISBN0-907797-10-5. Published to accompany a touring exhibition, text by Fintan O'Toole.
Prescot: Now and Then. Prescot, Merseyside: Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley Leisure Services Department, 1984. ISBN0947739009. Catalogue created by the Prescot Museum.
One Day Trip = Voyage d'un jour. Mission photographique transmanche, cahier 5. Paris: Editions de la Différence; Pas-de-Calais: Centre régional de la photographie Nord-Pas-de-Calais, 1989. ISBN2-904538-19-4. Bilingual (French and English); text by Robert Chesshyre.
Signs of the Times: A Portrait of the Nation's Tastes. Manchester: Cornerhouse, 1992. ISBN0948797916. Text by Nicholas Barker, from a BBC television series.
Signes des temps. Paris: Textuel, 2006. ISBN2845972032. French-language version.
L'Ennui à deux = Bored Couples. Paris: Galerie du jour Agnès B., 1993. OCLC864184535. Catalogue of an exhibition held at Galerie du jour Agnès B.; text in French and English.
Les Itinéraires culturels. L'Europe en bref. Geneva: Centre européen de la culture; [Arles]: Actes sud, 1997. ISBN2742715894. Extracts from Small World, French text by Michel Thomas-Penette.
Small World. Rome: Peliti Associati, 2005. ISBN8885121330. Italian-language version.
Small World: A global photographic project 1987–1994. Stockport, Cheshire: Dewi Lewis, 2007. Revised edition. ISBN978-1-904587-40-8. Introduction by Geoff Dyer.
Petite planète. Paris: Hoëbeke, 2008. ISBN2842303199. French-language version.
Small World. Stockport, Cheshire: Dewi Lewis, 2018. ISBN978-1-911306-35-1. Introduction by Geoff Dyer.
West Bay. Abingdon, Oxfordshire: Rocket Press, 1997. OCLC698589004. About West Bay, Dorset, with poems by eight poets, edited by Lottie Hoare. Edition of 250 copies.
Japonais endormis = Nemuru Nihonjin (眠る日本人). Paris: Galerie du jour Agnès B., 1998. ISBN2-906496-29-4.
Common Sense. Stockport, Cheshire: Dewi Lewis, 1999. ISBN1-899235-07-8. No text.
Benidorm. Über die Welt. = About the World. Hannover: Sprengel Museum Hannover, 1999. ISBN3-89169-145-9. Catalogue of an exhibition held at the Sprengel Museum. With text by Gerry Badger and Thomas Weski in German and English.
Autoportrait. Stockport, Cheshire: Dewi Lewis, 2000. ISBN1-899235-72-8. A small-format collection of photographs by commercial portrait photographers and others around the world of the unsmiling Parr. Introduction by Marvin Heiferman.
Second, augmented edition. Stockport, Cheshire: Dewi Lewis, 2016. ISBN978-1-907893-80-3.
Parrjektif: İstanbulʼda stil peşinde = Parrjective: Style hunting in Istanbul. Istanbul: Mavi Jeans, 2006. ISBN9759671751.
Tutta Roma. Rome: Contrasto, 2006. ISBN88-6965-016-2. Main text by Ivana della Portella, introduction by Barringer Fifield.
Parking Spaces. London: Chris Boot, 2007. OCLC222585004. According to the colophon, "The last parking space photographed by Martin Parr in 41 countries between 2002 and 2007".
Everybody Dance Now. New York: editions2wice, 2009. ISBN0972388621.
Playas. London: Chris Boot and Mexico: Editorial RM, 2009.
Martin Parr in India. [New Delhi]: Photoink, 2010. ISBN8190391178. "Clubs, hotels & tearooms", "The sea", "Darjeeling", "Indian cakes", "Wedding parties"; text in Hindi, Urdu, and English.
Japan. Kamakura: Super Labo, 2011. ISBN4-905052-13-0. Edition of 500 copies.
7 Cups of Tea. One Picture Book 74. Portland, OR: Nazraeli Press, 2012. ISBN978-1-58005-357-0. Edition of 500 copies.
No Worries. Sydney: T & G, 2012. ISBN978-0-987079-08-4. Produced for the City of Fremantle Festival of Photography and accompanied an exhibition held at the Western Maritime Museum, Victoria Quay, Fremantle; text by Robert Cook.
Up and Down Peachtree: Photographs of Atlanta. Rome: Contrasto, 2012. ISBN88-6965-332-3.
Souvenir: Martin Parr, fotografia i col·leccionisme. Barcelona: Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona, 2012. ISBN8498034914. Catalogue of an exhibition held at Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona; text in Catalan, English and Spanish.
100 photos de Martin Parr. Pour la liberté de la presse. Paris: Reporters sans frontières, 2012. ISBN2362200108.
Life's a Beach.
New York: Aperture, 2012. ISBN1597112240. Edition of 1,000 copies.
Voewood Festival. High Kelling, Norfolk: Voewood Publications, 2014. ISBN978-0992947200. Photographs of the Voewood Festival commissioned by Simon Finch. Introduction by DBC Pierre.
Hong Kong Parr. London: GOST and Hong Kong: Blindspot Gallery, 2014. ISBN978-1910401002. Photographs of Hong Kong in 2013 commissioned by Blindspot Gallery, accompanied by an exhibition at the gallery.
We Love Britain!. Munich: Schirmer/Mosel, 2014. ISBN978-3829606875. Edited by Inka Schube and with text by Inka Schube in German and English. Photographs of traces of Britishness in and around Hanover, Germany.
Real Food. London: Phaidon, 2016. With an introductory essay by Fergus Henderson. Photographs of food taken throughout Parr's career.
The Rhubarb Triangle. Wakefield: The Hepworth Wakefield, 2016. OCLC985914298. With an essay by Susie Parr. Published to accompany the exhibition The Rhubarb Triangle & Other Stories: Photographs by Martin Parr at The Hepworth Wakefield, Wakefield from a two year commission for the gallery to photograph the Rhubarb Triangle.[70]
Remote Scottish Postboxes. Bristol: RRB, 2017. ISBN978-0993232350. Edition of 500 copies. With a short text by Susie Parr.
World (The Price of Love). London: Idea, 2018. Edition of 1000 copies
Return to Manchester. Manchester: Manchester Art Gallery, 2018. Edited by Natasha Howes. ISBN9780901673978. With a foreword by Alistair Hudson. Published on the occasion of an exhibition at Manchester Art Gallery.
Martin Parr Retrospective 1971–2000. Seoul Arts Centre, 2007. "This is the catalogue produced for Parr's retrospective show at the Seoul Arts Centre in 2007."[70][n 3]
Urban Outfitters. Urban Outfitters, 2011. A "preview catalogue" of photographs taken in Marrakesh for the clothing retailer Urban Outfitters.[70]
Assorted Cocktail. Luxembourg: Coordination Générale; New York: Magnum Photos, 2006. OCLC190847363. Exhibition catalogue.
[Palma de Mallorca] Ajuntament de Palma; [Alicante] Caja Mediterraneo, [2009]. Catalogue of an exhibition held at Casal Solleric, Palma de Mallorca, Spain, June–September 2009; in Catalan, English, Spanish and French.
Prague: DOX, Centre for Contemporary Art, 2011. ISBN8087446062. Text by Thomas Weski and Irena Šorfová.
Only Human: Photographs by Martin Parr. London and New York: Phaidon, 2019. ISBN978-0714878577. Published to coincide with an exhibition.
Papers and zines
Basler Magazin. Basel, Switzerland: Basler, 1997. "A special edition of Basler Magazin, featuring images by Martin from the Basel Art Fair. Published by Basler Magazin, 1997".[72]
The Big Issue: On the Ring Road.The Big Issue 451, 20–26 August 2001. OCLC500941730. "Martin Parr explores the strange rituals of suburban Britain".[73]
A8 Glasgow. London: John McAslan + Partners, 2005.OCLC75968602. Special issue of JMP Journal. "A commission for John McAslan the architect, who invited Parr to photograph the surroundings of his childhood haunts between Dunoon and Port Glasgow. [...] 28 colour photographs."[72]
Rebirth. Stiletto, 2007. "A Stiletto fashion supplement. Published by Stiletto, 2007".[72]
Luxembourg. Luxembourg et Grande Region, 2007. "This 32-page newspaper was published in Luxembourg to coincide with its year as the European Capital of Culture 2007. [...] 36 colour photographs."[72]
Fashion Newspaper. London: Magnum Photos, 2007. OCLC778631195. In English and Japanese. Accompanying a 2007 exhibition at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography.[74] "In 2007 Parr's fashion exhibition, initiated by Bon Marche in Paris, went to Tokyo. This special newspaper was published to accompany the show. It features the Paul Smith's winter 2007 collection as well as a folio of images taken in the UK. [...] 57 colour photographs."[72]
Dubai. Dubai: The Third Line, 2008. "In 2007 Parr photographed the races and polo in Dubai. A year later these images were shown at the Third Line Gallery in Dubai."[72]
Guardian Cities Project. London: The Guardian, 2008. OCLC778916872. A set of newspaper supplements – on Manchester, Brighton, Liverpool, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Belfast, Newcastle, Cambridge, Leeds – in a box.
The Art Newspaper, 16 October 2008. London: Umberto Allemandi, 2008. "A special edition of The Art Newspaper published and given out during Frieze Art Fair in London. Includes exclusive photographs shot by Martin at the event."[72]
The Art Newspaper, 18–19 October 2008. London: Umberto Allemandi, 2008. "A special edition of The Art Newspaper published and given out during Frieze Art Fair in London. Includes exclusive photographs shot by Martin at the event."[72]
St Mary Redcliffe & Temple School.Bristol City Council, 2011. About St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School: "Parr was appointed artist in residence at this large comprehensive school in Bristol for the 2010/2011 academic year. The resulting images were presented in an installation in the school and in a newspaper that was given to every pupil."[72]
The Goutte d'Or. Paris: L’Institut des Cultures d’Islam, 2011. "This newspaper accompanies an exhibition commission by the Islamam [sic] Cultural Centre based in this Paris suburb."[72]
Bristol and West. Bristol: M Shed, 2011. "Published to accompany Parr's show at the newly opened M Shed in Bristol. Parr showed the many images taken in his long career in the West of England."[72]
Think of Switzerland. Switzerland: Du, 2013. "A special edition of [the Swiss magazine Du] which contains both Parr's new photos of the country, and some of the classic ones he shot in previous decades."[72]
The Rhubarb Triangle. Wakefield: The Hepworth Wakefield, 2016. With an essay by Susie Parr. 24-page newspaper published to accompany the exhibition The Rhubarb Triangle & Other Stories: Photographs by Martin Parr at The Hepworth Wakefield, Wakefield.[76]
Chinatown 1984. Southport: Café Royal, 2015. Edition of 250 copies.
Yates's. Southport: Café Royal, 2016. Edition of 500 copies.
Abandoned Morris Minors of the West of Ireland. Southport: Café Royal, 2017. Edition of 500 copies.
The British Seaside. Southport: Café Royal, 2020. Edition of 500 copies.
Postcards
Home and Abroad. London: British Council, 1994. OCLC51048056. 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. [Stockholm]: Gun Gallery, 2007. ISBN9197492507. Twenty-seven cards in a box, with a booklet. Photographs by Parr, text by Johan Croneman.
Royal Wedding. Paris: Verlhac, 2011. ISBN2916954791. 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. ISBN978-1-862-059771. Text (in English) by Stéphane Bern.
Paris: Verlhac, 2012. ISBN978-2-916954-94-3. French-language version. Text (in French) by Stéphane Bern.
Books with others
Sobre Santiago: tres de Magnum. Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Servicio de Publicacións e Intercambio Científico, 1993. ISBN8481210595. With Carl De Keyzer and Miguel Rio Branco. Catalogue of an exhibition held at the University of Santiago de Compostela; text in Galician and English.
John Davies, Martin Parr. Sguardi Gardesani 2. Milan: Charta, 1999. ISBN8881582236. Photographs by Parr and John Davies, text by Franco Rella. Catalogue of an exhibition held at Museo Civico, Riva del Garda; text in Italian and English.
Road Trip, Martin Parr and Friends. Sony Ericsson, 2005. OCLC693324651. With others. A promotional book for the Sony Ericsson K750 camera phone.
America 2006. London: Stephen Daiter Gallery/Schaden.com/Rocket Gallery, 2007. OCLC778868246. By Parr and John Gossage, "as the artists' choice of aliases, Obvious or Ordinary".
Witness Number Three. New York: Joy of Giving Something, 2007. ISBN1590052145. Photographs by Parr ("Art World"), and by Keizō Kitajima, Kohei Yoshiyuki and Osamu Kanemura ("The lost generation"), and texts by Parr ("Three ways to make a book"), Susie Parr ("Little England"), and a transcript of Parr in conversation with Gerry Badger.
How We Are: Photographing Britain, from the 1840s to the Present. London: Tate, 2007. ISBN1854377140. Book by Val Williams and Susan Bright accompanying an exhibition; Parr and Gerry Badger contribute the chapter "We are all photographers now".
Correspondencia: Marcelo Brodsky + Martin Parr. AFA nécessaire. [Santiago, Chile]: Galería AFA, 2008. ISBN9568627022. Catalogue of an exhibition of Parr and Marcelo Brodsky's work. In Spanish and English.
Joachim Schmid Is Martin Parr · Martin Parr Is Joachim Schmid. Self-published, Joachim Schmid / Blurb, 2009.
Parr by Parr – Quentin Bajac Meets Martin Parr – Discussions with a Promiscuous Photographer. Amsterdam: Schilt, 2010. ISBN978-9-053307-37-3. With Quentin Bajac.
Le Mélange des genres. Paris: Textuel, 2010. ISBN2845973918. French-language version.
Martin Parr por Martin Parr: Un diálogo con Quentin Bajac: discusiones con un fotográfo promiscuo. BlowUp. Libros únicos. Madrid: La Fábrica D.L., 2010. ISBN8492841702. Spanish-language version.
Intervista a un fotografo promiscuo. Lezioni di fotografia. Rome: Contrasto, 2012. ISBN8869653927. Italian-language version.
Мартин Парр: В своем жанре. Интервью с Квентинм Бажаком. Treemedia, 2012. ISBN978-5-903788-17-0. Russian-language version.
The Real World = Tikras Pasaulis. Kaunas: Kaunas Photography Gallery, [2010]. ISBN978-609-95146-1-1. A two-volume set: one volume by Parr and the other by Rimaldas Vikšraitis.
One Day: 10 Photographers. Heidelberg: Kehrer Verlag, 2011. ISBN978-3-86828-173-6. A boxed set, edited by Harvey Benge, of ten slim books of photographs taken on 21 June 2010, each book by one of Parr, Jessica Backhaus, Gerry Badger, Benge, John Gossage, Todd Hido, Rob Hornstra, Rinko Kawauchi, Eva Maria Ocherbauer and Alec Soth. On this day Parr was at home in Bristol, and (according to the preface) "I decided to photograph the small rituals of my daily life".
Made in Italy. Rimini: Pazzini Editore, 2012. Booklet. "A commission for the Savignano Immagini Photo Festival in Italy resulted in this work exploring the Italian fashion industry in the area. Parr’s images make up one of eight booklets by different photographers [...] collectively called Sin_Tesis . Terrority | Now."[70]
Books edited or with contributions by Parr
The Actual Boot: The photographic post card boom, 1900–1920. Bradford: National Museum of Photography, Film, and Television, 1986. ISBN0948308036. With Jack Stasiak. Catalogue of an exhibition that opened at the National Museum of Photography, Film, and Television and then toured.
smart. Reduce to the Max. Biel, Switzerland: Micro Compact Car AG, 1997. OCLC175165701. About the Smart car. Concept by Reinhold Weber, Parr is the primary photographer.
Boring Postcards. London: Phaidon, 1999. Hardback ISBN0-7148-3895-0. Paperback ISBN0-7148-4390-3. Reproductions of boring postcards of Britain.
London 1958–59. Stockport: Dewi Lewis, 1998. ISBN189923571X. Photographs by Sergio Larrain, introduction by Mike Seaborne.
Boring Postcards USA. London: Phaidon, 2000. Hardback ISBN0-7148-4000-9. Paperback ISBN0-7148-4391-1. Reproductions of boring postcards of the US.
Langweilige Postkarten. London: Phaidon, 2001. ISBN0-7148-4062-9. Reproductions of boring postcards of Germany.
From Our House to Your House: Celebrating the American Christmas. Stockport, Cheshire: Dewi Lewis, 2002. ISBN1-899235-34-5
Our True Intent Is All for Your Delight: The John Hinde Butlin's Photographs. London: Chris Boot, 2002. ISBN0-9542813-0-6. London: Chris Boot, 2011. ISBN1905712200.
Bliss: Postcards of Couples and Families. London: Chris Boot, 2003. ISBN0-9542813-3-0. Reproductions of postcards.
Bonheur! garanti pour le couple, idéal pour la famille. Textuel, 2003. ISBN9782845970977. French-language version.
Saddam Hussein Watches. [London: Chris Boot], 2004. OCLC58732043.
Lodz Ghetto Album. London: Chris Boot, 2004. ISBN0-9542813-7-3. Photographs by Henryk Ross of the Łódź Ghetto under the Nazis; selected by Parr and Timothy Prus.
My Amsterdam. Amsterdam: De Verbeelding, 2005. ISBN9074159788. Photographs by Ed van der Elsken. Accompanying an exhibition at Amsterdam Fotomuseum/FOAM; edited and introduced by Parr.
Photographs. Rome: Contrasto, 2006. ISBN88-6965-015-4. Photographs by David Goldblatt. Parr contributes a short introduction to this book, published to accompany an exhibition described as curated by Parr.
David Goldblatt. Südafrikanische Fotografien 1952–2006. Winterthur: Fotomuseum, 2007. ISBN3856162941.
Darkroom. Portland, OR: Nazraeli, 2007. ISBN9781590051924. Photographs by Michel Campeau. First book in the "Parr/Nazraeli Edition of Ten".
Half Awake and Half Asleep in the Water. Portland, OR: 2007. ISBN9781590052150. Photographs by Asako Narahashi. Second book in the "Parr/Nazraeli Edition of Ten".
Parr World. Postcards. London: Chris Boot, 2008. ISBN978-1-905712-10-6. Reproductions of postcards.
Cartes postales. Monde de Martin Parr. Paris: Textuel, 2008. ISBN2845972873.
Objets. Monde de Martin Parr. Paris: Textuel, 2008. ISBN2845972873.
NYPH 08: New York Photo Festival 14–18 May: The Future of Contemporary Photography: DUMBO, Brooklyn. New York: Powerhouse, 2008. ISBN1576874796. Book of an exhibition curated by Parr.
Bureaucratics. Portland, OR: Nazraeli, 2008. ISBN978-1-59005-232-7. Photographs by Jan Banning. Third book in the "Parr/Nazraeli Edition of Ten".
Portfolio: Click to Add Subtitle. Blurb, 2009. OCLC680083358. About the Photography. Book. Now 2010 competition; with text by Parr, WassinkLundgren (Thijs groot Wassink and Ruben Lundgren), Blurb, Hewlett-Packard.
School. Portland, OR: Nazraeli, 2009. ISBN1-59005-241-2. Photographs by Raimond Wouda. Fourth book in the "Parr/Nazraeli Edition of Ten".
Visual correspondences = Correspondencias visuales. Buenos Aires: La Marca Editora, 2009. OCLC429143026. Artwork by Parr, Marcelo Brodsky, Manuel Esclusa, Cassio Vasconcellos, Pablo Ortiz Monasterio and Horst Hoheisel; texts by Valeria González, Eduardo Cadava and Paola Cortes-Rocca. In Spanish and English.
Archivo. Amsterdam, 2009. ISBN907253204X. Work by Parr, Harold Strak, Eva-Fiore Kovakovsky, Johannes Schwartz, Daya Cahen, Paul Kooiker, Qiu Yang, Kyungwoo Chun, Lee To Sang, Erik van der Weijde, Sara Blokland, Willem van Zoetendaal, Anuschka Blommers & Niels Schumm, and Miroslav Tichý. Catalogue of an exhibition curated by Paul Kooiker and Willem van Zoetendaal.
Retratos Pintados. Portland, OR: Nazraeli Press 2010. Painted photographs collected by Titus Riedl. Fifth book in the "Parr/Nazraeli Edition of Ten".
Grimaces of the Weary Village by Rimaldas Vikšraitis. London: White Space Gallery, 2010. ISBN0955739462.
Brighton Photo Biennial 2010: New Documents. Brighton: Brighton Photo Biennial, 2010. ISBN190379644X. Catalogue of an exhibition curated by Parr, edited by Parr and Helen Cadwallader.
Geografía postal: Las postales de las familias García Lorca y De los Ríos. Madrid: This Side Up; Fundación Federico García Lorca; Obra Social Caja Madrid, 2010. ISBN8493491624. Selected by Parr, text by Enrique Vila-Matas. In Spanish.
Postal Geography: Postcards of the García Lorca and De los Ríos Families. Madrid: Instituto Cervantes, Fundación Federico García Lorca, Obra Social Caja Madrid, 2012. OCLC847873266. English-language version, to accompany an exhibition held at Instituto Cervantes, Dublin.
Magnum Contact Sheets: The Collector's Edition: Martin Parr, Last Resort, 1985. London: Thames & Hudson, 2011. ISBN978-0500544129. Includes a print of a contact sheet. Edition of 50 copies.
Martin Parr's Best Books of the Decade. PhotoIreland, 2011. OCLC756036166. Edited by Moritz Neumüller and Ángel Luis González. With texts by Parr and 30 photographers.
La Creciente. Portland, OR: Nazraeli, 2011. ISBN9781590053218. Photographs by Alejandro Chaskielberg. Sixth book in the "Parr/Nazraeli Edition of Ten".
The Protest Box. Göttingen: Steidl, 2011. ISBN9783869301242. Contains Protest on Paper (ISBN3869301422); Enrique Bostelmann, América: un Viaje a traves de la injustica (1970); Paolo Gasparini, Para verte major, América Latina (1972); Dirk Alvermann, Algeria (1961); Kazuo Kitai, Sanrizuka (1971); Paolo Mattioli and Anna Candiani, Immagini del No (1974). Co-edited with Gerry Badger.
El fotolibro latinoamericano. Mexico City: Fundación Televisa, 2011. OCLC777865333. Co-edited with Horacio Fernández, Marcelo Brodsky, Iatã Cannabrava, Pablo Ortiz Monasterio, and others. English-language version.
The Latin American Photobook. Aperture Foundation and Fundación Televisa, 2011. ISBN978-1-59711-189-8. English-language version.
Les Livres de photographie d'Amérique latine. Marseille: Images en manoeuvres, 2011. ISBN2849952168. French-language version.
From here on: D'ara endavant: La postfotografia en l'era d'internet I la telefonia mòbil = From here on: a partir de ahora: la postfotografía en la era de internet y la telefonía móvil = From here on: Postphotography in the age of the Internet and the mobile phone. Mexico City: Editorial RM; Barcelona: Arts Santa Monica: Generalitat de Catalunya, Department de Cultura, 2013. ISBN8439389949; ISBN8415118457.
New Latin Look = Nueva mirada latina. Madrid: Ivorypress, 2012. ISBN8493949841. Edited by Parr and Elena Ochoa Foster. In Spanish and English.
Strangely Familiar. Portland, OR: Nazraeli, 2013. ISBN1-59005-353-2. Photographs by Peter Mitchell. Seventh book in the "Parr/Nazraeli Edition of Ten".
Watford Gap: The First Motorway Service Station. Ipswich: Diesel Books, 2013. ISBN978-0-9566928-2-5. Photographs by Sam Mellish, introduction by David Harsent, and "archival imagery" by Parr.
Only in England: Photographs by Tony Ray-Jones. Bradford: National Media Museum, 2013. ISBN978-1-900747-67-7. OCLC870756771. Published to accompany an exhibition described as having a portion of its images selected from the Ray-Jones archive by Parr and Greg Hobson. Parr contributes an essay. Introductions by Hannah Redler and Greg Hobson, and essays also by David Alan Mellor and Ian Walker.
The Waiting Game. Mexico City, Mexico: Editorial RM, 2014. ISBN978-8415118572. Photographs by Txema Salvans. Parr and John Carlin each contribute a short introduction.
Photobook Phenomenon. Munich: Prestel; CCCB/RM/Fundació Foto Colectania, 2017. A box set of eight booklets of writing, one each by Moritz Neumüller and Lesley Martin, Markus Schaden and Frederic Lezmi, Parr ("The Collector's Vision"), Horacio Fernández, Ryuichi Kaneko, Gerry Badger, Erik Kessels, and Irene de Mendoza and Neumüller. ISBN978-8417047054.
1989–1991: The Cost of Living, Royal Photographic Society, Bath, 1989/1990; The Photographers' Gallery, London, 1990; Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, 1990; Gallery Jacques Gordat, Paris, 1991.[citation needed]
2013/2014: Only in England: Photographs by Tony Ray-Jones and Martin Parr, Media Space, Science Museum, London, September 2013 – March 2014;[85] National Media Museum, Bradford, March–June 2014; Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, February–June 2015.[86] With Parr's The Non-Conformists and material from the National Media Museum's Tony Ray-Jones archive, curated by Parr and Greg Hobson.
2014: Black Country Stories, New Art Gallery, Walsall and Wolverhampton Art Gallery. Commissioned by Multistory,[87] Parr photographed the four boroughs of the Black Country, 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).[88][89][90][91]
2014: Paris, Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris[92]
2017: Sony World Photography Awards & Martin Parr – 2017 Exhibition,Somerset House, 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[ti]on."[93]
Byrne, Ciar (7 January 2008). "Martin Parr: How to put photography in the frame". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 31 March 2014. Channel 4 series, Picture This ... Martin Parr ... is one of the three judges on the show ... BBC4's The Genius of Photography, which also featured Parr ... Parr, who was born in Epsom, Surrey, in 1952, was introduced to the camera by his grandfather, a keen amateur photographer who lived on the outskirts of Bradford, West Yorkshire. He went on to study photography at school ... In the early part of his career, teaching provided the bulk of his income ... In 2004, he was appointed Professor of Photography at the University of Wales, Newport ... Magnum paved the way for Parr to do more commercial work, including fashion shoots for the likes of Paul Smith and Louis Vuitton, and magazine features ... his pictures already use "the language of advertising", making them more accessible ... In 2004, Parr was the guest artistic director for Rencontre D'Arles
Parr, Martin; Bajac, Quentin (2010). Parr by Parr. Amsterdam: Schilt. ISBN978-9-053307-37-3. QB: It is in Hebden Bridge, where you settled for several years ... MP: I moved there in 1975 and left in 1980.
Dye, Erica (15 May 2013). "America in Color". The New Yorker. Retrieved 3 April 2014. retrospective of Martin Parr's photographs of life in the U.S., taken over the past twenty years ... Parr's saturated photographs
Meadows, Daniel (1975). Living Like This. London: Arrow. ISBN0-09-911400-3. I was, at this time, working closely with a fellow photography student, Martin Parr, and in March we set about documenting the residents of a street in Salford.
Martin Parr (in conversation with Heather Forbes and Peter Turner) (1982). "Thoughts on Bad Weather". In Parr, Martin (ed.). Bad Weather. London: Zwemmer. ISBN0-302-99996-5. At first I used my Leica which kept getting full of water, then a friend suggested I use an underwater camera. Buying that, and an underwater flashgun, set the tone for the whole project. 'Where will you going,' said the salesman, 'off to the Med?' 'No, no,' I told him, 'I can't swim.'
Hamilton, Peter (2013). "Northern Exposures". British Journal of Photography. 160 (7808). Incisive Financial Publishing Limited: 64. many of the images are in colour – a medium in which Bulmer was the British pioneer, and way ahead of photographers now considered scions of the metier, such as William Eggleston, who only started to dabble with it a decade later, and Martin Parr, post-1970.
Bartlett, Karen (15 March 2012). "Think of Finland". Nokia. Archived from the original on 13 April 2014. Retrieved 9 April 2014. Parr tried to photograph the essence of a country that's captivated him since the early 1990s when he was a professor at the University of Art and Design in Helsinki
Russell Miller, Magnum: Fifty Years at the Front Line of History (London: Pimlico, 1997; ISBN9781409002642). Here at Google Books. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
Jobey, Liz (14 March 2014). "Collecting with the FT: Martin Parr". Financial Times. Retrieved 15 March 2014. We are here to talk about his books but Parr collects pretty much everything, from Chinese Mao-era tea caddies to miniature televisions, commemorative plates to cigarette cases decorated with Soviet space-dogs ... his most enduring legacy is likely to be the 12,000 photography books he has collected over the past 35 years. What began as a hobby has developed into a mission to change the way the history of photography is defined and understood. As a collector, he has discovered, documented and promoted previously unknown areas of photographic bookmaking.
Banks-Smith, Nancy (4 December 2003). "No more Mr nice guy". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 April 2014. Imagine... The World According to Parr (BBC1) ... He is a passionate collector of things that are going, going, gone. Everything must have a photograph on it. "I have been collecting wallpaper for 30 years. Concorde wallpaper, ET wallpaper, the Beatles. Once you start it's hard to give up. Ah!" he pounced on a cardboard box, "The Spice Girls ephemera!" He spread his collection of tin trays on the floor and his watches with Saddam Hussein on the face. When he is in London he adds to his collection of prostitutes' cards from phone boxes.
Rule, Dane (31 March 2012). "Your weekend: In the galleries". The Age. Retrieved 3 April 2014. 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. His celebrated British Food series
"Fashion Magazine" (PDF), Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography. Retrieved 9 April 2014. (in Japanese) A press release about Fashion Magazine (and incidentally Fashion Newspaper).
Newman, Cheryl; Bonadio, Lívia (5 December 2013). "Alec Soth: My top 10 photo Books of 2013". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 25 December 2013. Black Country Women / Martin Parr (Multistory) Nosey Parr-ker hits it out of the park with this hysterically funny yet humane look at working-class women in the English West Midlands.
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