Martin Parr

Rating:
Summary: Martin's visual extravaganza.
Review: In the last chapter of this fascinating book author Val Williams says of Parr 'He is a cunning photographer, sidling his way into situations where he shouldn't always be, looking as ordinary as the people he photographs'. How true and this could well explain how he manages to take such interesting photos of people and situations.

This thick, chunky book gives a good cross selection of Parr's work, from the superbly observed black and whites of working class life in the seventies and eighties to the capturing, in color, of the middle classes in the nineties. I think Parr works best when he photographs the British and is able to see and capture social situations that most of us miss. There are twelve color shots of street scenes in Boring, Oregon, (chosen, naturally, because of the town's name and Parr's three books, called Boring Postcards though these have no connection with the place) and they are just like any other photographers vernacular work, if Boring had been in England Parr would have found some class differences to make the photos say plenty.

Author Williams writes in depth about Martin Parr and his work and with several hundred photos this book is an excellent visual biography of one of the best British documentary photographers working today. BTW, the back of the book includes a few pages of Martin's collection of ephemera, knick-knackery that has taken his fancy, a tin of Heinz Barbie pasta shapes, a set of Russian coasters showing trucks or a set of Spice Girls chip packets and more, I have a similar collection of things that have caught my eye over the years, is this a trait of creative folk?

Rating:
Summary: If there is only one Parr on your bookshelf...
Review: This is only my fourth time reading this collection cover to cover; I cant get enough of it. Williams' insightful essays broken up with the pertenant images following makes for a throughly enjoyable read, covering Parr from the early days to current. Williams pulls from lots of outside resources, making this a very well rounded look at his life time of work. If there is one Parr book to own, it is this beautiful Phaidon collection, cant reccommend highly enough!