Kyle Stevenson

01

interviews

43:55

"First priority is to make an entertaining picture." | Photographer Martin Parr

Legendary British documentary photographer Martin Parr is known for his innovative, often satirical imagery portraying modern life in the wealthy western world. Here he looks back at 50 years of work. "If you look at the world, what can you do, it is funny, and if you don't laugh, you cry", he says. Martin Parr began his career shooting in black and white documenting society as a "celebration of life," he says, and when he moved to color in the mid-8oies, his work became a "critique of society," he says. He calls his photography his "personal interpretation of what I see in front of me." "My pictures are fictional because I often use flash, not something you would see with a human eye." Martin Parr was born in Surrey, United Kingdom, in 1952. He studied photography at Manchester Polytechnic from 1970 to 1973. As a documentary photographer, 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 contribution to photographic culture within the UK and abroad. In 1994 he became a full member of Magnum Photographic Cooperative. Christian Lund interviewed Martin Parr at the Martin Parr Foundation in Bristol in December 2021.

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