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Parr by Parr: Discussions with a Promiscuous Photographer
Although Martin Parr is recognised today as one of the major photographers of his generation, he says little publicly about his own work.
However, in this interview he opens up to Quentin Bajac and introduces the characteristic features that underpin his approach: a social perspective, both ironic and tender, towards the middle and working classes, mass consumer entertainment and leisure activities, and objects of mainstream consumption.
The interview explores his upbringing and his education at Manchester Polytechnic, the controversy surrounding his work on English society in the 1980s, his distinctive place in the world of photo-reportage (at Magnum Photos), between art and the media, his attitude towards the evolution of the contemporary world, but also they many other now dominant facets of his work in photography: as a historian, an editor of books, a curator of exhibitions and a collector.
If globalisation -- a favourite theme of the artist's -- gives rise to a certain disenchantment with the world, Martin Parr's images remain resolutely human, they stay with us and allow us to see and experience the world with different eyes.
However, in this interview he opens up to Quentin Bajac and introduces the characteristic features that underpin his approach: a social perspective, both ironic and tender, towards the middle and working classes, mass consumer entertainment and leisure activities, and objects of mainstream consumption.
The interview explores his upbringing and his education at Manchester Polytechnic, the controversy surrounding his work on English society in the 1980s, his distinctive place in the world of photo-reportage (at Magnum Photos), between art and the media, his attitude towards the evolution of the contemporary world, but also they many other now dominant facets of his work in photography: as a historian, an editor of books, a curator of exhibitions and a collector.
If globalisation -- a favourite theme of the artist's -- gives rise to a certain disenchantment with the world, Martin Parr's images remain resolutely human, they stay with us and allow us to see and experience the world with different eyes.
- GenresPhotography
128 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2011
16 people want to read
About the author
Quentin Bajac
79 books3 followersQuentin Bajac is a French museum curator and art historian specialising in the history of photography. He is the director of the Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume in Paris.
Bajac has held positions at the Musée d'Orsay (1995–2003), Centre Georges Pompidou (2003–2010), Musée National d'Art Moderne and École du Louvre (2010–2013) and Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) (2013–2018).
He has published a number of works on photography, most notably the three-volume series—La photographie—on the history of photography (2000–2010), which belongs to the collection Découvertes Gallimard, as well as Parr by Parr: Discussions with a Promiscuous Photographer (2011), Stephen Shore: Solving Pictures (2017), Being Modern: MoMA in Paris (co-author with Olivier Michelon, 2017).
In 2013 Bajac was made a Chevalier (knight) of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
Bajac has held positions at the Musée d'Orsay (1995–2003), Centre Georges Pompidou (2003–2010), Musée National d'Art Moderne and École du Louvre (2010–2013) and Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) (2013–2018).
He has published a number of works on photography, most notably the three-volume series—La photographie—on the history of photography (2000–2010), which belongs to the collection Découvertes Gallimard, as well as Parr by Parr: Discussions with a Promiscuous Photographer (2011), Stephen Shore: Solving Pictures (2017), Being Modern: MoMA in Paris (co-author with Olivier Michelon, 2017).
In 2013 Bajac was made a Chevalier (knight) of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
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