Martin Parr 2nd Edition Monograph

Beginning with Martin Parr’s early black and white work, and moving through the development into his signature colour-saturated photographs, this newly updated monograph provides a complete overview of the acclaimed Magnum photographer’s career to date. By placing the everyday at centre stage, Parr is best known for his sharp and witty visual chronicling of British (and later, global) idiosyncrasies. Parr’s photographs have received popular acclaim, provoked controversy, and been applauded for their critical observations of the world we have built and inhabit.

Val Williams charts Parr’s development as a photographer, from his early inspirations and outings with his grandfather, through his student days in Manchester and experimentation with documentary and art photography, to his sharply critical observations of the effects on global consumerism on our daily lives. Williams assesses contemporary reactions to his work as well as the social contexts in which the photographs were made. While she worked in close collaboration with Parr, having full access to his archives and based on extensive interviews with him, she retains a critical distance with which to evaluate his work and his public persona as a ‘controversial’ photographer.

Each illustrated chapter text is followed by an extensive section of spreads of his work. The book also offers a holistic view of his practice – with sections on his publications and collections of souvenirs and ephemera that have continued to inform his photographic practice.

This new and expanded edition of the comprehensive monograph charts the career of British photographer and collector Martin Parr (b.1952), best known for his frank chronicling of British life
Features early B&W photographs of the 1970s and previously unpublished work, in addition to his most famous projects, including The Last Resort, The Cost of Living and Signs of the Times, and more recent projects such as Luxury, No Worries and Black Country Stories
Explores his position as a contemporary artist as well as documentarian of popular culture and consumerism
Three new chapters address Parr’s expanded photographic practice, which includes curating, book editing, filmmaking, blogging and collecting
Richly illustrated with installation views, exhibition ephemera, book shots and a visual archive of Parr’s famous collections, from wallpaper to lapel badges and souvenir models.