Martin Parr takes pictures of us we’d rather forget. His gaze is unflinching, but unlike most other documentary photographers, Parr has a sense of humour. “I find the world funny, particularly this country,” he says. “I don’t understand why, when I’m looking at documentary work here, we don’t see more things that are funny and strange and surreal. That’s what I’m spotting all the time. And that’s what I want to record.” Parr is, quite possibly, Britain’s most significant photographer – his work created a new visual language for the medium. You instantly recognise a Martin Parr photograph: the harsh flash, the saturated colour, the ordinary made ridiculous. His pictures are puckish, intrusive, the opposite of pretentious.
In his new book Utterly Lazy and Inattentive – the title quotes one of Parr’s school reports – Parr recounts his life through photographs: childhood snapshots are here, as are his early black and white pictures. And then there are the iconic images: the sunbathing woman in Benidorm, sleeping commuters in Japan, McDonalds in Moscow, the Bath Young Conservatives, the holidaymakers at New Brighton Beach.
Wendy Jones, Parr’s would-be biographer, writes in the introduction that “many people in this book have no idea they are here.” The statement prompts an inevitable ethical question that all street photographers face – namely, is it right to photograph, publish and profit from people without their consent. “I don’t think it’s an ethical question at all,” Parr says. “I cherish the freedom we have to photograph anything and anybody in the street and to exhibit and publish it. Long may it remain. In 20 years’ time – I’ll be dead by then – but that right may have been taken away.”
Parr has thought a lot about aging and mortality recently. He has myeloma, which is in remission. Though he has physically declined – he now walks with a rollator – his drive to take photographs hasn’t diminished. “If anything, it’s speeding me up,” he says, “because I’m thinking, ‘Oh, I’m not going to be here forever. I want to do more work.’ I’ve probably worked harder since the illness than before.”
The artist is the quintessential photographer of British life – its absurdities, eccentricities and contradictions. Many of his best-known images depict Britain and class. His Last Resort series was criticised for ostensibly mocking the working class, but his unforgiving flash lampoons the middle and upper classes too. How does he feel about his subjects? Does he have contempt for them? “I like people, full stop,” he says. “I mean, it doesn’t prevent me from having a bit of fun, a bit of mischief with them.”
He’s photographed up and down the country, but the Britain of his earlier works is vastly different to that which we live in today. “I don’t like this right wing of England – the riots last year, it’s appalling. The demonstrations, waving the Union Jacks and St. George’s Day flag outside the hotels, smashing windows, assaulting the police, that’s not good. That’s the side of Britain I don’t like.”
Despite his obsession with the provincial, Parr is a global photographer. He’s photographed in the USA, Japan, Senegal, even North Korea. But no matter the continent, the style and humour remain. Parr’s wit accentuates his photograph’s ugly subject-matters: consumerism, waste, vanity, globalisation not as an economic paradigm but as cultural dilution. Asked whether he considers his work political, Parr says, “I think it is. Not everything, but a lot of it is. My priority is to entertain, to make a picture that looks good. And then if people enjoy them, they can read between the lines if they like. It’s up to them.”
In 2016, he was invited by CNN to photograph both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions. In some ways, for all his model Britishness, America – particularly Republican America – is a natural home for Parr’s way of seeing. “The conventions in America are a gift because everything’s concentrated,” he explains. “Everyone dresses up, particularly Republicans. You wouldn’t find the equivalent here. If I went to the Labour Party Conference it would not be as exciting.” Is there anyone he wouldn’t photograph? Would he photograph Nigel Farage? “I’d happily do a portrait of Farage. Yeah.”
Utterly Lazy and Inattentive looks back on an artist’s life, but at 73, Parr isn’t planning on stopping. “I’ll just keep going until I drop dead.” There’s always a new subject, something that he hasn’t yet turned his lens upon. “I saw a big article about bubble tea at the weekend, and I thought, ‘I haven’t got a bubble tea shot.’ So I’m looking out for a bubble tea shop.”
Utterly Lazy and Inattentive: Martin Parr in Words and Pictures is published by Penguin Randomhouse: penguin.co.uk
Words: Henry Roberts
Image Credits:
1. From Small World, Kleine Scheidegg, Switzerland, 1990 © Martin Parr / Magnum Photos.
2. McDonald’s, Moscow, Russia, 1992 © Martin Parr / Magnum Photos.
3. Shalfleet Church Fête Isle of Wight, England, 2007 © Martin Parr / Magnum Photos.
4. From Chew Stoke: A Year In The Life Of An English Village, Chew Stoke, England, 1992 © Martin Parr / Magnum Photos.
5. Clacton Beach, Clacton, England, 2017 © Martin Parr / Magnum Photos.
