R R B P H OTO B O O K S B R I S TO L
INTRODUCTION The first time I saw an early black and white photograph by Martin Parr I was sitting in a second-run movie theater with a friend in 1989 waiting to watch, perhaps appropriately, Mike Leigh’s film High Hopes. My fellow cineaste, who is English, had just handed me a gift of Parr’s 1982 book Bad Weather she purchased in London. I opened the book only long enough to noticing the price of £10 penciled on the title page and take in the first photo of a man standing in fog when the theater lights started to dim. In an odd reversal of tone, I watched as the man, who seems to be fading to white in the foggy photograph, was all of a sudden swallowed by darkness. My attention turned to Leigh’s storytelling. Looking at the book more carefully the next afternoon, I remember thinking that holding this early book by Parr at that moment felt like looking backwards – like learning something in reverse order. My first exposure to Parr’s work was a year or so earlier through his third book The Last Resort and the unexpected authenticity of his use of color and shift to medium format, for that time, seemed like a great leap forward. So no matter how fine the images, Bad Weather looked at first to be a familiar version of well-established photographic traditions that his color work seemed to push against. It took a while to realize that, in its way, Parr’s early foundations were already starting to challenge those traditions while disguising itself in an established photographic language. Thirty years has passed since that night in the theater and inevitably when a photographer’s work progresses as Martin’s has from its humble beginnings to celebration within the grand historical canon, an examination of the “early work” usually follows. As one might expect, these types of flashbacks tend to paint an unrealistic picture of progress since no editor of a book is going to include the failure which is a natural part of any photographer’s trajectory. Edits like these seem to imply the artist started the marathon at full sprint. Forgive these trespasses as life, attention spans and page numbers are short. Just remember that facing 99.99% failure on a daily basis was and is still the norm. Martin Parr seems to have understood the math.
If one calculated the multitude of biographies of Martin’s life and career that have appeared in his numerous books and exhibition catalogues you’d understand why I’ve dispensed with a biographic introduction. I sense that we almost know too much about Martin himself at this point and it can taint our reading of the work. The American photographer Garry Winogrand often stated the belief that “once the work exists, the artist is irrelevant”- meaning, only concern yourself with what is within the picture before you. That’s easier said than done as we extend (or more correctly, pollute!) the edges of photographs with the superfluous details of the artist – say of, Atget’s bread, milk and sugar diet, Sudek’s missing arm or Michael Schmidt’s former life as a cop. Few photographs, if any, are in need of such details to find revelation yet striving to unpack the mysteries of what makes some photographs so lasting, leads us onto these tangential paths to know everything down to the shirt size of the maker. To the horror of most historians I agree with Garry, so I will arm you with the bio I find appropriate for looking at the pictures that will follow; Martin Parr was born. We, and the medium, are far better off for that. Jeffrey Ladd
List of photographs Epsom, Surrey, England, 1973
Wheldrake, North Yorkshire, England, 1980
Passing Naturalists, Pagham Harbour, Sussex, England, 1974
Langdale End Cricket Club, North Yorkshire, England, 1980
Surrey Bird Club, Surrey, England, 1972
Siddington, Cheshire, England, 1974
Derby Day, Epsom, Surrey, England, 1973
Brimham Rocks, North Yorkshire, England, 1974
Butlin’s Filey, North Yorkshire, England, 1972
Stonehenge, Wiltshire, England, 1976
Butlin’s Filey, North Yorkshire, England, 1972
Bolton Abbey, Wharfedale, North Yorkshire, England, 1973
Ideal Homes Exhibition, London, England, 1974
St Ives, Cornwall, England, 1975
Brighter Homes Exhibition, Manchester, England, 1971
De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex, England, 1979
Manchester Central Library, England, 1981
New Brighton, Merseyside, England, 1978
Moss Side, Manchester, England, 1972
New Brighton, Merseyside, England, 1979
Union Hotel, Manchester, England, 1974
The Queen visits the Great Yorkshire Show, Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, 1977
Longsight, Manchester, England, 1973
Mr and Mrs Smith, owners of The Fairlawn Hotel, Calcutta, India, 1984
Moss Side, Manchester, England, 1970 This image won Martin Parr his first ever award.
St. Paul’s School, Darjeeling, India, 1984
Manchester, England, 1972 Morecambe, Lancashire, England, 1976 Skegness, Lincolnshire, England, 1982 Blackpool, Lancashire, England, 1970 Rusholme, Manchester, England, 1972 Prestwich Mental Hospital, Greater Manchester, England, 1972 Prestwich Mental Hospital, Greater Manchester, England, 1972 Prestwich Mental Hospital, Greater Manchester, England, 1972 Prestwich Mental Hospital, Greater Manchester, England, 1972 Prestwich Mental Hospital, Greater Manchester, England, 1972 Prestwich Mental Hospital, Greater Manchester, England, 1972 Prestwich Mental Hospital, Greater Manchester, England, 1972 Brick Lane Market, London, England, 1975 Brick Lane, London, England, 1979 Centre of Hampton Court Maze, Surrey, England, 1975 Glastonbury Tor, Somerset, England, 1975
St. Paul’s School, Darjeeling, India, 1984 Gymkhana Club, Darjeeling, India, 1984 Tiananmen Square, Beijing, China, 1985 Tai Chi, Shanghai, China, 1985 Shanghai, China, 1985 Jubilee street party, Elland, West Yorkshire, England, 1977 Manorhamilton sheep fair, Ireland, 1980 Elland, West Yorkshire, England, 1978 Manchester, England, 1981 Manchester, England, 1981 Manchester, England, 1981 Manchester, England, 1981 O’Connell Bridge, Dublin, Ireland, 1981 Farm auction, Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire, England, 1979 Epsom station, Surrey, England, 1975 Manchester, England, 1981 Lennon’s supermarket, Prescot, England, 1984
Prescot, England, 1984
Puck Fair, Killorglin, County Kerry, Ireland, 1981
Yates’s Wine Lodge, Great Charlotte Street, Liverpool, England, 1983
Errit, County Roscommon, Ireland, 1983
Yates’s Wine Lodge, Newcastle, England, 1983
Coney Island Bar, County Roscommon, Ireland, 1982
Yates’s Wine Lodge, Great Charlotte Street, Liverpool, England, 1982
Lynotts Bar, Manorhamilton, County Leitrim, Ireland, 1983
Yates’s Wine Lodge, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, 1982
Glenbeigh Races, County Kerry, Ireland, 1983
Yates’s Wine Lodge, Newcastle, England, 1983
Dingle Races, County Kerry, Ireland, 1981
Bradford Rugby League, Valley Parade stadium, Bradford, England, 1980
Dingle Races, County Kerry, Ireland, 1981
The Haxey Hood, North Lincolnshire, England, 1975
Manorhamilton Sheep Fair, County Leitrim, Ireland, 1981
St. Peter’s Walks, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, 1979
The Pope gives mass at Phoenix Park, Dublin, Ireland, 1979
Halifax Rugby League Club ground, West Yorkshire, England, 1977
Puck Fair, County Kerry, Ireland, 1982
The Shay, Halifax Town football ground, West Yorkshire, England, 1977
Abandoned Morris Minors, Glencar, County Sligo, Ireland, 1981
The Shay, Halifax Town football ground, West Yorkshire, England, 1975
Abandoned Morris Minors, Dingle Peninsula, County Kerry, Ireland, 1982
Hartlepool United FC, County Durham, England, 1982
Abandoned Morris Minors, Askeaton, County Limerick, Ireland, 1981
Halifax Gala, Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England, 1977
Abandoned Morris Minors, Arigna, County Roscommon, Ireland, 1980
Spectators at a cricket match, West Yorkshire, England, 1975
Abandoned Morris Minors, Strandhill, County Sligo, Ireland, 1980
Crimsworth Dean Methodist Chapel, West Yorkshire, England, 1977
Knock, County Mayo, Ireland, 1980
Easter Monday, The Ancient Order of Henpecked Husbands Annual General Meeting, Nazebottom, Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, England, 1977
Mary’s Holy Well, Killargue, County Leitrim, Ireland, 1981
Mayor of Todmorden’s inaugural banquet, Todmorden, West Yorkshire, England, 1977 Steep Lane Baptist Chapel buffet lunch, Sowerby, Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England, 1977 Mytholmroyd, West Yorkshire, England, 1977 Cranley Martin, Greenwood Steel corduroy weaving shed, Mytholmroyd, West Yorkshire, England, 1976 Sowerby Bridge Mouse Show, West Yorkshire, England, 1978 Todmorden Show, West Yorkshire, England, 1975 Cornholme, West Yorkshire, England, 1975 Tom Greenwood, Hangingroyd Road, Hebden Bridge, Yorkshire, 1975 Lee Dam Swim, Todmorden, West Yorkshire, England, 1976 Puck Fair, Killorglin, County Kerry, Ireland, 1981 Muff Fair, County Cavan, Ireland, 1981 Puck Fair, Killorglin, County Kerry, Ireland, 1981
Rosses point, County Sligo, Ireland, 1983
With thanks to Jenni Smith, Louis Little, Tom Groves, Charlotte King, Mike Hale, Rudi Thoemmes, Josie Atkinson
All photographs © Martin Parr / Magnum Photo Text © Jeffrey Ladd Design © Dan Mogford Published by RRB Photobooks and the Martin Parr Foundation A French Edition of this title is published by Editions Clémentine de la Féronnière ISBN 978-1-9997275-9-8 rrbphotobooks.com martinparrfoundation.org