The announcement of the disappearance
The English photographer Martin Parr died on Sunday 6 December at his home in Bristol. The news was released through the Martin Parr Foundation, the institution he founded in 2017 to preserve and promote documentary photography. He is mourned by his wife Susie, his daughter Ellen, his sister Vivien and his nephew George, who have asked for respect for their privacy in this moment of mourning.
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A revolutionary career
Born in Epsom in 1952, Parr was one of the protagonists of contemporary documentary photography. His approach to photography was influenced from a young age by his grandfather, who was also an amateur photographer. After studying at Manchester Polytechnic between 1970 and 1973, Parr began his career as a photography teacher, but it was his artistic practice that made him famous throughout the world.
After his black-and-white beginnings inspired by Cartier-Bresson and Bill Brandt, he developed a brightly colored style that redefined the depiction of everyday life. His images, characterized by saturated colors, use of flash in bright light and close-ups, broke with all the conventions of traditional documentary photography.
The works that made history
His career took off in the mid-1980s with “The Last Resort” (1983-85), a project that chronicled working-class life on holiday in the seaside resort of New Brighton. In those chaotic images full of kitsch details, Parr defined his unmistakable style: an anthropological look at the grotesque of everyday life.
His major works include “Bad Weather” (1984), “The Cost of Living” (1989) and “Common Sense” (1999), the latter exhibited simultaneously in 40 venues in ten different countries, an absolute record for a photographer.
Entering Magnum Photos
In the 1990s he joined Magnum Photos, presented by Henri Cartier-Bresson. Joining the most prestigious agency in world photojournalism was not without controversy: his provocative and satirical style divided critics and colleagues. However, Parr proved to be an innovator who anticipated the aesthetics of digital photography and social media.
Between 2014 and 2017 he was president of Magnum Photos, consolidating his influence on the international photography scene.
An ironic look at the consumer society
Among the themes of Parr’s photographs are consumerism, tourism, mass culture, junk food and advertising aesthetics. His images transformed the rites of the bourgeoisie, the crowded beaches, the village fairs into grotesque comedy, revealing the contradictions of contemporary society with sharp irony.
His style consolidated over the years and has been interpreted as an anticipatory look at the most recent digital photography, that of smartphones and Instagram. The seemingly random compositions, the bold use of flash, the subjects caught in awkward poses were all elements that, initially criticized, turned out to be visionary.
The collector and the founder
In addition to his photographic production, Parr was a tireless collector. In 2017 he sold his collection of over 12 thousand photography books to the Tate Modern in London. In the same year he founded the Martin Parr Foundation in Bristol, a center dedicated to the preservation of British documentary photography and the support of new talent.
Together with the writer and photographer Gerry Badger he published “The Photobook: A History”, released in three volumes between 2004 and 2014, a fundamental work for understanding the history of photographic books.
A lasting legacy
His pop, saturated, chaotic and provocative photos continue to meet contemporary tastes and are still today among the most exhibited in exhibitions and events around the world. His works are part of the permanent collections of the most important museums, from the Museum of Modern Art in New York to the Tate Modern in London.
Martin Parr was also an experimenter of new media: he taught at the University of Wales, directed music videos, worked with television and social networks, always demonstrating an interest in contemporary forms of visual communication.
A controversial master
In 2020, Parr was at the center of a controversy linked to the reprint of the book “London” by Gian Butturini, which he introduced in 2017. A controversy on social media led him to resign from his role as artistic director of the Bristol Photo Festival. The episode demonstrated how his work continued to spark debates and mixed reactions.
With the passing of Martin Parr, photography loses not only a great technical master, but above all a critical, ironic and profoundly human gaze on contemporary society. His images will continue to question us about our behaviors, our consumption, our contradictions, keeping alive that ability to make us laugh and reflect at the same time that characterized his best work.
