At first glance, his photographs seem exaggerated or even grotesque. The motifs he chooses are strange, the colours are garish and the perspectives are unusual. Parr's term for the overwhelming power of published images is "propaganda". He counters this propaganda with his own chosen weapons: criticism, seduction and humour. As a result, his photographs are original and entertaining, accessible and understandable. But at the same time they show us in a penetrating way that we live, how we present ourselves to others, and what we value.
Parr enables us to see things that have seemed familiar to us in a completely new way. In this way he creates his own image of society, which allows us to combine an analysis of the visible signs of globalisation with unusual visual experiences.
Part of his unusual strategy is to present and publish the same photos in the context of art photography, in exhibitions and in art books, as well as in the related fields of advertising and journalism. In this way, he transcends the traditional separation of the different types of photography. Thanks to this integrative approach, as well as his style and his choice of themes, he has long served as a model for the younger generation of photographers.
(...)once we've seen his photographs, we keep on discovering these images over and over again in our daily lives and recognising ourselves within them. The humour in these photographs makes us laugh at ourselves, with a sense of recognition and release. Thomas Weski
http://www.martinparr.com/MartinParrCV.pdf
Martin Parr (born 23 May 1952) is a British documentary photographer, photojurnalist and photobook collector. He is known for his photographic projects that take a critical look at aspects of modern life, in particular provincial and suburban life in England. He is a member of Magnum Photos.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Parr
'Magnum photographers were meant to go out as a crusade ... to places like famine and war and ... I went out and went round the corner to the local supermarket because this to me is the front line.'
'The principle objection would be that I would appear to be cynical, voyeuristic, exploitative. All these were the words that I heard.' Martin Parr
 |
| New Brighton, from the series Last Resort, 1983-1985 |
'With photography, I like to create fiction out of reality. I try and do this by taking society’s natural prejudice and giving this a twist.'
'Part of the role of photography is to exaggerate … '
Martin Parr
http://erickimphotography.com/blog/2012/03/10-things-martin-parr-can-teach-you-about-street-photography/
Martin Parr has long walked a fine line between sympathetic portraits of
everyday life and voyeurism. Now he trains his English eye on
main-street America.
Snacking at the Georgia State Fair – a snapshot of life in Atlanta
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/jul/22/up-down-peachtree-martin-parr-review
'I go straight in very close to people and I do
that because it's the only way you can get the picture. You go right up
to them. Even now, I don't find it easy. I don't announce it. I pretend
to be focusing elsewhere. If you take someone's photograph it is very
difficult not to look at them just after. But it's the one thing that
gives the game away. I don't try and hide what I'm doing - that would be
folly.'
'If you photograph for a long
time, you get to understand such things as body language. I often do
not look at people I photograph, especially afterwards. Also when I want
a photo, I become somewhat fearless, and this helps a lot. There will
always be someone who objects to being photographed, and when this
happens you move on.'
http://www.photoquotes.com/showquotes.aspx?id=197&name=Parr,Martin
New Brighton, from the series Last Resort, 1983-1985
New Brighton, from the series Last Resort, 1983-1985
New Brighton, from the series Last Resort, 1983-1985
New Brighton, from the series Last Resort, 1983-1985
http://www.photoforager.com/archives/martin-parr
'I looked around at what my
colleagues were doing, and asked myself, 'What relationship has it with
what's going on?' I found there was a great distortion of contemporary
life. Photographers were interested only in certain things. A visually
interesting place, people who were either very rich or very poor, and
nostalgia.'
Untitled, Weymouth
Hot Dog Shop
Untitled, Melplash
http://mocoloco.com/art/archives/002067.php
http://www.picassomio.com/gallery/eyestorm/martin-parr-artwork-26574.html
No comments:
Post a Comment