Say what you like about Martin Parr – and many people do; his work is consistently polarising – but you can’t help but be drawn to his photos. Often laced with humour, his uncompromising images tackle high, low and popular culture; commercialism; human behaviour and the role of photography itself.
He first made a name for himself documenting life in northern England in
the early 1970s, using black-and-white film as his medium of choice. But it was
in the 1980s, when he pioneered the use of amateur, colour film for his ‘in-your-face’
snaps that he truly shot to fame. While other artistic photographers stayed
locked to more traditional, colourless films, he straddled the line between
artist and photojournalist.
The images from this period – of overweight
beachgoers, cramming their mouths with chips and squeezing in among fellow
sunbathers at New Brighton – remain among his most recognisable. His intimate
portraits of these unsuspecting subjects are rarely flattering; sometimes he
even seems aggressive, exposing them to a certain degree of vulnerability.
Even
in 1994, when Parr was admitted to Magnum, the world’s most prestigious photo
agency, there was heated debate about his photography. Magnum’s legendary
French co-founder, Henri Cartier-Bresson, was among those who took exception to
his work. After years of debate, Parr was finally voted into Magnum by its
members, receiving just one vote more than the minimum three-quarter majority
he needed.
The celebrated photographer is most often associated with his
visions of the cloudy shores of the British Isles, but the majority of his
commissioned work today is shot abroad.
Parr first began taking photographs in
the PRC in the mid-’80s, while he was in Beijing to exhibit works at the Geological
Museum of China. He has returned to the country over the decades to capture
people in parks, at beaches (one of his favourite subjects), car shows and
wedding shoots. ‘Photography is particularly important in weddings in China, which
I find fascinating,’ he says.
He found this unique national obsession so
fascinating, in fact, that he created an ongoing series of portraits of himself
shot by Chinese wedding photographers, some of which he compiled into a book,
Chinese Wedding Album (2010). ‘I was taken to a pretty professional studio in
Beijing and had a series of photos taken of myself by several different photographers
– they do that so that each photo is different for you. The props, clothes,
they provide all that,’ he explains, discussing one of these ‘self-portraits’.
Of his own China
pictures, Parr says shooting here is no more difficult than in any country,
and, if there is any particular appeal, it is the sheer number and variety of China’s people.
His subjects here ‘mostly don’t bat an eyelid’ at the notion of being
photographed, he says. ‘I mean people in China take photos of everything
anyway. They are not the only culture to do so. The Japanese are even worse, but
you can be even more invisible when a culture is so used to cameras.’
'China. Shanghai. 1997'
‘In the ’90s in China, most
people didn’t even have a mobile phone, so [this photo] did capture a
moment. I take so many photos every day, and only a few of them are
good enough. These photos, you get them because that is what is there –
and it was at a time when China was opening up, so you see a time of
intense change.’
'Hong Kong. Horse Racing. Sha Tin. 2001'
‘Horse racing
is very popular in Hong Kong. I studied how people got caught up in
their emotions over the races – betting and so on brings out a lot
of emotions in people.’
'China. Qinhuangdao. Beidaihe. 2010'
‘In China,
people have photos taken weeks before their actual marriage, and they
are taken pretty seriously. [In this shot, the groom] was jumping up and
down – there was no wind or anything.’
'China. Qinghuangdao. Beidaihe. 2010.'
‘Beaches
have attracted me for a long time. [Why did I shoot] the crowds on the
beaches? It’s simple, there are lots of people there, all crowded
together, and people are my subject.’
Clare Pennington
Originally posted in Time Out Beijing
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