2.martin+parr
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RawTalent
38 Spotlight
42 Performance
44 Moving Image
46 Music
50 CW.Poetry
52 New Media
Trying to pin down exactly what Martin Parr does is a
tricky business. Since he became a professional photogra-pher over thirty years ago hes been hailed as the first
person to bring British documentary photography into the
professional era. Its a tag he dismisses as hype, although
it earned him a lucrative position amongst the worlds
greatest at the Magnum agency but not without some
controversy. Henri Cartier-Bresson described his motives
as highly suspicious, echoing the common criticism that
he isnt so much documenting his subjects as laughing at
them.
What it actually boils down to is middle class guilt, that
peculiar modern affliction that prevents Guardian readers
from even looking a - dont say it - working class person
in the eye, let alone making some comment on the way
they live their lives. Although clearly middle class himself,Parr has no such qualms, as hes said in the past, Im bug-
gered without my prejudice.
He is equal parts cultural magpie and hard nosed journal-
ist, traits which dont make him the easiest person to
interview. Sitting in his perfectly positioned Clifton hide-
away, I quickly begin to realise what it is to come in the
crosshairs of his lens. Hes more interested in working out
my motives for being there than deconstructing his bril-
liant career. Its not that he deliberately sets out to make
things difficult, rather that his photographs are all you
really need to know about Martin Parr.
The book and the Barbican exhibition (Photographic
Works 1971-2000) are billed as a retrospective, does this
mean were going to see a change in your work, some big
new ideas?Only in as much as everything before is going to be in the
retrospective book and everything after is not, so yes! But
Im still working away, Ive got another exhibition starting
in London about people on mobile phones, and Ive been
working at Cribbs Causeway for the last few months, pho-
tographing mothers and daughters out shopping together
as part of Bristols 2008 city of culture bid, so theres no
change in working practice Ill keep churning it out.
Some of your work is now in the commercial sector, you
do fashion and advertising stuff, does that take up a lot of
your time?
No, its still in the minority. Ive only been doing it for the
last seven or eight years and I dont want it to take over.
Im quite happy to reap the benefits of being very wellpaid for very little work.
Looking at your body of work it charts the history of
England as an increasingly consumer-led society. Is there
any conflict in your mind when taking the capitalist dollar?
Not really. I quite like the ambivalence of being asked by
the advertising world to take pictures. I like that its slight-
ly hypocritical. I may appear to be critical, but Im critical
of myself and of all society. Im not going to stop going on
an aeroplane because I do a critical job about tourism. Im
a big consumer of aeroplane seats, hotels and the leisure
industry. Were all hypocrites.
The Boring Postcards series is your most celebrated
project of recent times. Do you find that a little galling,
considering its just a collection of other peoples
MARTIN PARRBRISTOL BASED BUT WITH HIS EYE ON THE WORLDWORDS: JAKE HAYES / ALL IMAGES MARTIN PARR. MAGNUM PHOTOS
DECODE GETS UP CLOSE AND
PERSONAL WITH A TRUE MASTER
OF THE LENS %
PHOTOGRAPHS: MARTIN PARR!
decodemagazinemay/june
Rising Starssend us your workThis section of the maga-zine is a showcase ofsome top talent to lookout for. Its devoted to thecreative individuals pursu-ng their dreams andmaking life that little morecolourful and entertaining
for the rest of us.f you would like to appear
on these pages, send usyour story or samples ofyour work:
Decode MagazinePO Box 3120Bath, BA1 1WB
Reader CompetitionWin Think of England
by Martin Parr
To win a copy of this amus-ng and revealing visualslice of British life simplyanswer this Question?
What is the name of MartinParrs new book?
Answers to:Decode MagazinePO Box 3120Bath, BA1 1WBSend answers by E-mail to:
closing date for entries:
Friday, June 28th 2002
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tedious photos.
Not at all. Im delighted to have any successfulproject! And Im very pleased with it. I enjoy the
idea of what postcards illustrate and how social
attitudes change. So many of these come from
the 50s and 60s, when England and other
countries were rebuilding after the war. So it
shows a utopian vision which looks a bit jaded
with the benefit of hindsight.
Although you deal with contemporary life,
theres a lot thats harking back to Englands
golden age. Do you deliberately try to find
things that specifically relate to the past?
Not particularl. Im attracted to traditional
things, but Im also attracted to things very
modern. I have two extremes of interest and mywork has embraced them both at certain points
over the years.
Looking forward then, as many of the subjects
in the Think of England documentary say,
England is changing at an incredible pace.
Hows that effecting your work?
Its good, all change is good. The more things
change, the more frozen in time things become.
So Im all for it. Im for everything basically!
Martin Parr, Text by Val Williams is now available from
Phaidon 45. / www.phaidon.com
This article was first first published by Jake Hayes in
www.PopRiot.com.
IM NOT GOING TO STOPTRAVELLING ON AN AEROPLANE
BECAUSE I DO A CRITICAL JOBABOUT TOURISM. IM A BIGCONSUMER OF AEROPLANE SEATS,HOTELS AND THE LEISURE INDUS-TRY. WERE ALL HYPOCRITES.MARTIN PARR
BEN COLE &CHRIS LUCASMEET THE NEW BROTHERS GRIMM
INTERVIEW: GABRIEL SOLOMONSWORDS: ROY DELANEY
Since the dawn of time, stories and more
specifically fables have been used to conjure up
fantasy worlds which instill awe, wonder, fear
and joy in readers minds. Fables often use anal-
ogy to teach meaningful lessons, which can be
relevant to ages past, present and future. What
a pleasure then to come accross a new series of
fables, written and lovingly hand produced by
two youngsters from Bristol. Decode met up
with author Ben Cole & illustrator Chris Lucas to
find out just what inspired them to resuccitate
this slowly resurgent artform.
Why fairy tales in this day and age?
Well Ive written quite a lot of stuff including acouple of novels which are in that modern, con-
temporary, ironic coffee shop and lots of shags
kind of vein. I always thought they were satiri-
cal, but you realise that some people just dont
see that, and when I was writing them, almost as
a release, some of these fables just sort of fell
out, as a way of writing without having to be too
ironic.
But what is it about the canon of fairy tale work
that inspired you to create your own?
I read some fairy tales and was quite taken by
the sophistication. If you are trying to say some-
thing about humanity, to feel able to take people
to the end of the world and have them stand on
the edge of a cliff and look down and not be a
to take them any further is a really power
thing. If you can create magical things that a
real but not real, you get to talk about what i
to be alive in a way that people can accept, a
in a way which isnt to glib.
So why did you feel the need for illustrations
When I wrote these stories I had always ima
ined them as illustrated stories. If youve go
fable it should have illustrations, and I th
these stories are so much more because
Chris illustrations. Ive got all these high fal
ing ideals about being a conceptual artist, bu
like working with Chris because his works go
lot of depth and its accessible and thats a netrick. Its harder to do that with writing. I thi
with the fables at least people think they
beautiful, even if they dont understand them
Do you think theres a potential commerc
market for these fables then?
Were not going to make any money out
these books. Ive sold over a hundred and thi
of them and Id have to sell over a thousa
books a month in order to pay myself
MacDonalds style salary. We are intending to
six more fairy tales, but Id rather do them a
single collection, because I think that it will b
stronger body of work.
IF YOU CAN CREATE MAGI-CAL THINGS THAT ARE REALBUT NOT REAL, YOU GET TOTALK ABOUT WHAT IT IS TOBE ALIVE IN A WAY THATPEOPLE CAN ACCEPT, AND INA WAY WHICH ISNT TO GLIB..BEN COLE
FAIRYTALES JUST FOR KIDS EH?
MEET TWO YOUNG DREAMERS PUTTING
A MODERN TWIST IN THE TALE %
PHOTOGRAPHS: ANANDA CRESSWELL
decodemagazine