Monday, 27 January 2014
Exercise - Martin Parr - Photographic Works 1971 - 2000
MARTIN PARR - Val Williams
http://www.oca-student.com/sites/default/files/Parr.pdf
Val Williams discusses the career of Martin Parr and I have taken the following notes ..
Martin Parr is arguable the most influential and innovative figure in social documentary photography.
He is humorous, provocative and has a distinct vision.
He was born in 1952 and was bought up in suburban Surrey- described by him as drab, suburban and
dreary. His Grandfather , who lived in Yorkshire, was a photographer and was a fellow of the Royal Photographic Society. He was self taught and his enthusiasm had an impact on Martin who visited regularly.
It was his grandfather George who first took him to northern seaside resorts. Martin was fascinated by the brash side of English life. At the age of 15 he visited a Bill Brandt exhibition and it had a profound effect on him. His first series was of Harry Ramsdens Fish and Chip restaurant.
In 1970 he studied at Manchester Polytechnic college to study photography. It was after this that he moved to Hebden Bridge, in his 20's. His personal interest in Britishness became a major part of his work. He and his friend Meadows got jobs at Butlins holiday camps and took hundreds of photos whilst they were there.
Parr developed his fascination with human life and behaviour. He was interested in the ordinariness of life.
The non-conformists was first shown in 1981. A culmination of 6 years of work, and showed the people of Hebden, and concentrated on the Methodist and Baptist traditions. His images demonstrated
loyalty to tradition and a concern for the decline of traditional values and activities of local communities.
Humour, juxtaposition, oddity, irony,poignancy and sometimes sadness can be seen in his work. He
photographs unguarded moments.
He began to use colour and fill in flash, which he stayed with. Parrs particular interest were class and consumerism - previously unexplored by documentary photographers. There had been photographs of the very rich or very poor, but not the middle classes. Documentary photography was changing in a new and exciting way.
Between 1983 - 1985 Parr photographed the British working class at New Brighton, on the Wirral.
The Last Resort. This established Parr to becoming one of the most important photographers of his generation.
Parr took up a teaching post at Newport in Gwent.
The cost of living focuses on the middle classes. For the first time Par began to scrutinise his own position as someone who ( like many of his subjects ) had flourished financially from the Thatcher years, despite it being a time and political climate to which he opposed. Recognising himself as the product of middle class suburbia, the cost of living sees Parr exploring his own class, rectifying any imbalance left after the last resort and its examination of the working class.
The work is pre occupied with consumerism. Asserting still further his right to photograph subjectively, the pictures concentrate on the then newly affluent middle classes - the retail generation.
A small world - is pictures of tourist roaming around various parts of the world with videos and cameras recording all the tourist sites and familiar landmarks. - determining the success of their trip - but its not just about peoples love of landmarks its a fascinating critique of the tourist industry and the manufacture of 'heritage'.
Parr gives us symbols, icons, cliches and trivia. He is a cultural commentator but doubles as a pessimist. He is a satirist and an exaggerator. He is a consummate photographer with a love of
tradition and a wicked streak.
MARTIN PARR - YOU TUBE VIDEO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJinAgBYaLs
I listen to you tube .. and Martin Parr tells of his work.
He says he doesn't hide as a photographer, he has a large camera and flash - unlike me who does ! -
so take note and have some self confidence.. anyway he says he just wanders around and take the pictures he wants.
He also started his documentary in black and white - in a time when black and white dominated this area. He got the photography bug at 14 years of age. He started off looking at the local chapels and english life.
He discussed a buffet picture and the people in it were all scurrying for food and pushing and shoving - i've been to many a buffet like that 'nearly' fighting for food, but there is lots of activity and expression in this picture.
He decided in 1982 to change to colour, and has since stayed this way.
He discusses pictures that show people relaxing by the coast and look to be enjoying themselves but they are surrounded by litter and building but they seem unbothered its a juxtaposition. These were productive times for him, the busier the area became the more litter there was more photo opportunities.
Another area was the British at the French duty free, grabbing at packs of beer, a real personal challenge for the people. Facial expressions tell all.
He was photographing the wealth of the world, rather than the poor, which had been the tradition and they were showing their true colours.
He says himself his work show hypocrisy and prejudice, we'll discuss that later.
The next spoken about is couples in cars, maybe arguing ?! men and women will always clash in the same car, for one reason or another.
He moved on to Bored couple, people sitting together often over the table - looking bored - but is that the camera / photographer - who says they are bored. The are probably not .. Photos can be manipulated.
The next was Boring Postcards ... he then decided to go to a place called Boring and photograph everything he could, ending up with 468 photographs, which he called BORING PHOTOGRAPHS !
Tourism was talked about saying about our expectations and the reality. He went about exploring the difference between the two.
Over the years he has had his portrait taken in various studios over the world all producing many varied portraits of himself. Some quite strange ..
In 1995 he used a 35mm with flash ring to get a different close up view, these accumulated over 4 years and he put them all together and made a exhibition. It was cheap, nasty, colourful and bright.
He has a confusion about England ..
Finally he talks about the bacon rind photo... a man struggles with the rind of bacon trying to pull it from his sandwich with his teeth and it is just getting longer and longer .. This problem joins us all together ... its a classless problem !!!
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