Martin Parr

Martin Parr’s distinctive style of photography captures the oddities and humours of everyday British life through a vibrantly coloured, hyper-realistic lens. At the beginning of the 1980s Parr’s work aimed to mirror the lifestyle of ordinary British people, reflecting the social decline and distress of the working class during the era of Margaret Thatcher. He earned an international reputation for his oblique approach to social documentary, and for innovative imagery. The Last Resort: Photographs of New Brighton (1986) was Parr’s first project to show a move towards his now distinct personal style: bright colours and vivid images, gaining him the reputation as a renowned satirical photojournalist. Other of Parr’s series include Bad Weather (1982), Common Sense (1995-99), and Signs of the Times (1992).