Martin Parr spent more than 50 years photographing Britain at its most ordinary, making the ordinary look extraordinary. Working in bright, saturated colour and often using flash in broad daylight, he built a body of work centred on the British seaside, class and consumer culture.
His 1986 photobook The Last Resort, launched his international career and remains one of the most influential photobooks of the 20th century. A member of Magnum Photos from 1994, Parr served as its president from 2013 to 2017. He died in 2025, aged 73.
His 1986 photobook The Last Resort, launched his international career and remains one of the most influential photobooks of the 20th century. A member of Magnum Photos from 1994, Parr served as its president from 2013 to 2017. He died in 2025, aged 73.
Summary
Martin Parr spent more than 50 years photographing Britain at its most ordinary, making the ordinary look extraordinary. Working in bright, saturated colour and often using flash in broad daylight, he built a body of work centred on the British seaside, class and consumer culture.
His 1986 photobook The Last Resort, launched his international career and remains one of the most influential photobooks of the 20th century. A member of Magnum Photos from 1994, Parr served as its president from 2013 to 2017. He died in 2025, aged 73.
His 1986 photobook The Last Resort, launched his international career and remains one of the most influential photobooks of the 20th century. A member of Magnum Photos from 1994, Parr served as its president from 2013 to 2017. He died in 2025, aged 73.
Artworks by Martin Parr
About Martin Parr
Biography
About Martin Parr
Martin Parr was born in 1952 in Surrey. His grandfather, an amateur photographer, first introduced him to the camera on childhood visits to Yorkshire. Parr studied photography at Manchester Polytechnic from 1970 to 1973, then began working as a freelance photographer.
The Last Resort and beyond
Parr's first major body of work documented Prestwich Mental Hospital in 1972. He followed it with projects on working-class life in Salford and Butlin's holiday camps. His style shifted decisively in the 1980s, when he abandoned black and white for saturated colour, inspired by the American photographers William Eggleston and Stephen Shore.
The Last Resort, shot at the crumbling seaside resort of New Brighton, became his breakthrough project, using flash and bright colour to expose the ironies of British leisure. Later projects, including Small World and Common Sense, applied the same eye to global tourism and consumer culture.
Prints, books and a lasting archive
Parr published over 140 books of his own work and edited around 30 more, alongside more than 600 exhibitions worldwide. His photographs are widely sold as archival pigment prints through Magnum Photos, and he built one of the world's most significant collections of photobooks himself.
In 2015, he founded the Martin Parr Foundation in Bristol to collect and exhibit British documentary photography. Parr died at his home in Bristol in 2025, aged 73.
Biography
About Martin Parr
Martin Parr was born in 1952 in Surrey. His grandfather, an amateur photographer, first introduced him to the camera on childhood visits to Yorkshire. Parr studied photography at Manchester Polytechnic from 1970 to 1973, then began working as a freelance photographer.
The Last Resort and beyond
Parr's first major body of work documented Prestwich Mental Hospital in 1972. He followed it with projects on working-class life in Salford and Butlin's holiday camps. His style shifted decisively in the 1980s, when he abandoned black and white for saturated colour, inspired by the American photographers William Eggleston and Stephen Shore.
The Last Resort, shot at the crumbling seaside resort of New Brighton, became his breakthrough project, using flash and bright colour to expose the ironies of British leisure. Later projects, including Small World and Common Sense, applied the same eye to global tourism and consumer culture.
Prints, books and a lasting archive
Parr published over 140 books of his own work and edited around 30 more, alongside more than 600 exhibitions worldwide. His photographs are widely sold as archival pigment prints through Magnum Photos, and he built one of the world's most significant collections of photobooks himself.
In 2015, he founded the Martin Parr Foundation in Bristol to collect and exhibit British documentary photography. Parr died at his home in Bristol in 2025, aged 73.