Martin Parr is a photojournalist and documentary photographer from England who is particularly noted for his critial photographic protrayals of suburbia and suburban life. His approach to his work is to depict his subjects in an intimate manner in their natural environment, sometimes quite anthropological in style.
Active since the 1970s he cites being shown the work of Tony Ray Jones while studying at Manchester Polytechnic as being the biggest inspiration on his early professional career. A keen collector, the “garish” postcards produced by John Hinde in the 1950-70s are also cited as influential to his colour work.
This photo of Parr's of the Swiss Alps from his 1995 book “Small World: A global photographic project 1987–1994” illustrates his post-modernist approach to doucmentary photography. This is neither a portrait of the browsing shoppers, nor a classical landscape shot of the dramatic mountain scenery. It is however a portrayal of life as it is – a window on the world as he sees it. Yet it is more than just a casual snapsot, composed to show the juxtaposition of commerical tourism with the wilds of the snow-capped mountains beyond. It is a study of the apparent indifference to this grand vista that the browsing couple show.
This preponderance of documenting the real life does not win him acolades from all quarters though, with one Sunday Times article describing him as possibly the most polarising of all contemporary phographers.
References:
Samdal, Robert, "Martin Parr polarises the world of photography", The Sunday Times, 20 April, 2008
Martin Parr.com – official website
Parr, Martin “Small World: A global photographic project 1987–1994”, 1995.
Phillips, Sandra S, “Martin Parr”, 2007
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