Think of England

by Martin Parr (Photographer)

England has been a key subject of Magnum photographer Martin Parr's work since he started taking pictures. Think of England is a comic, opinionated, affectionately satirical, colour-saturated photo-essay about the identity of England. As Scotland and Wales consolidate their status as nations and Great Britain begins to unravel, this book of new work contributes to the debate about what it means to be English. Quintessentially English himself, Parr's great achievement as a photographer is his ability to transform the obvious into the surprising, reinventing clichés of Englishness as provocative revelations. His tour of obvious England takes in Ascot and the charity shop, seaside resorts, herbaceous borders, the bring-and-buy stall, cucumber sandwiches and cups of tea, baked beans and bad footwear. Parr's work has already added to the visual vocabulary of England; this book, his first specifically on the subject of England, stretches it further. Simultaneously affectionate and brutally direct, all the photographs are shot with a ring flash camera (more usually used for medical photographs), which has been his medium of choice for the last four years.

Genres: Photography, Nonfiction, Art

144 pages, Paperback

First published September 20, 2000

About the author

Martin Parr was born in Epsom, Surrey, UK in 1952. When he was a boy, his budding interest in the medium of photography was encouraged by his grandfather George Parr, himself a keen amateur photographer.

Parr studied photography at Manchester Polytechnic, from 1970-1973. Since that time, Martin Parr has worked on numerous photographic projects. He has developed an international reputation for his innovative imagery, his oblique approach to social documentary, and his input to photographic culture within the UK and abroad.

In 1994 he became a full member of Magnum Photographic Corporation. In recent years, he has developed an interest in filmmaking, and has started to use his photography within different conventions, such as fashion and advertising.

In 2002 the Barbican Art Gallery and the National Media Museum initiated a large retrospective of Parr's work. This show toured Europe for the next 5 years.

Parr was appointed Professor of Photography in 2004 at The University of Wales Newport campus. He was Guest Artistic Director for Rencontres D'Arles in 2004. In 2006 he was awarded the Erich Salomon Prize and the resulting Assorted Cocktail show opened at Photokina. In 2008 he was guest curator at the New York Photo Festival, curating the New Typologies exhibition. At PhotoEspana, 2008, he won the Baume et Mercier award in recognition of his professional career and contributions to contemporary photography.

Reviews

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Supersaturated...... bold and iconic...... glorious and inglorious..... The sum of this book is greater than its parts. A wonderful shouting poem of photographs that celebrates life. It makes me proud to be British.

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

photos of England at play - at the seaside, in cafes, at fetes. The colour is supersaturated. It's funny and sometimes touching, and often disgusting.

[Nate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Martin Parr has an uncanny ability to picture the absurdity of Western consumer culture and throw it back in our face. His photos are vibrant with color, and the angles, juxtaposition, and macro-focus accentuate the grotesque, pompous, and overlooked elements of everyday interactions.

As a Brit, Parr takes us by the hand into the quirkiness of his own national culture, turning symbols on their heads to make his own facetious point.

This is one of the most accessible photography books to non-photo types, but if you don't take his photographs as parts of a whole, you miss the point. Context is everything and the images draw explanatory power from one another.

[Seven Pesos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow.

Taken from another user review: "Martin Parr has an uncanny ability to picture the absurdity of Western consumer culture and throw it back in our face".

Another user review: "Parr's pictures show the surfaces of objects from close up, with super-saturated, garish color: Spotty, porous, sunburned skin, bald spots, flaky pastries and chipped mugs with pictures of Princess Diana on them. Everything looks oily. The English people participating in traditional upper class activities--polo, horse racing, fox hunting, cricket--look no different from tattooed sunbathers. Their skin is just as bad".

These two users really said it so well, that I won't even add anything.

[Nat]

Parr's pictures show the surfaces of objects from close up, with super-saturated, garish color: Spotty, porous, sunburned skin, bald spots, flaky pastries and chipped mugs with pictures of Princess Diana on them. Everything looks oily. The English people participating in traditional upper class activities--polo, horse racing, fox hunting, cricket--look no different from tattooed sunbathers. Their skin is just as bad.

Our wedding photographer said that Martin Parr was one of her inspirations.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Martin Parr has a great sense of humor and perspective. I want to see more.