Martin Parr

Description

This Martin Parr (b.1952) retrospective is rich in the wit and colour for which Parr’s work is well known, yet simultaneously offers the first ever serious assessment of the career of this major contemporary photographer.

Parr combines an urge to document with an attitude of incisive bemusement by social behaviour. Val Williams, distinguished writer and curator, considers Parr’s later work – also his most famous – within the context of his full career. In so doing, she shows how Parr’s subtle and striking photographs have highlighted political and social change over the last 30 years.

Although Parr began his career in Britain, he now has a wide international following. This book offers the overview that many have eagerly anticipated. It features fascinating previously unpublished early work, his startling and original 1974 installation ‘Home Sweet Home’, early black-and-white photographs of the people and places of Hebden Bridge, Yorkshire where he lived and worked in the 1970s, photographs from Ireland and Salford, and of course a selection of the very best images from all his published books including The Last Resort, The Cost of Living, Signs of the Times and Think of England (published by Phaidon).

With unlimited access to Parr’s archives and drawing on extensive interviews, Val Williams charts Parr’s life and career, revealing insights into his influences and attitudes and assessing his importance within the worlds of art and photography.

Val Williams is a well-respected writer and curator based in London. She is contributing editor of Creative Camera magazine and has written for the Guardian, the Independent, the Telegraph Magazine and the New Statesman, among many others.’handsomely produced retrospect’
Times Literary Supplement‘Monumental’
Evening Standard, 18 February 2002‘Beautifully illustrated’
Time Out‘If you love Parr’s work, this book is a must; if you can’t see the point of it, Val Williams’ excellent text may illuminate things’
Amateur Photographer

Additional information

Dimensions	1.375 × 9.75 × 11.375 in
Imprint	Phaidon Press
Format	General Trade
ISBN-13	09780714843896
ISBN-10	071484389X
Author	Martin Parr, Val Williams
Audience	General / adult