Remembering Martin Parr, an 'extraordinary photographer of people and life in the UK'

"Parr was considered one of the UK's best-known photographers and one of the few practitioners of the medium who has developed a profile far beyond the industry. He also led the pack of documentary photographers who, for the past 50 years, have sought to explore and reflect the identity of the British Isles through what sometimes can appear-intentionally so-as happenstance snaps."

"Parr transformed British documentary photography with The Last Resort, a vivid, saturated portrait of working-class leisure in New Brighton. Its mix of irony, empathy and unfiltered observation challenged conventional approaches and helped establish colour as a serious documentary medium."

"It is with great sadness that we announce that Martin Parr died yesterday at home in Bristol."

Martin Parr died at home in Bristol aged 73. He studied photography at Manchester Polytechnic in the early 1970s and emerged at the vanguard of a new wave of pioneering photojournalists. Parr spent five decades documenting British life, exploring class and identity through vivid, saturated colour and a blend of irony and empathy. Key projects include The Last Resort (1983–85) and The Cost of Living (1987–89). He was named Master of Photography at Photo London in 2023. Institutions including the Victoria and Albert Museum and the National Portrait Gallery noted his role in establishing colour as a serious documentary medium. An exhibition, Global Warming, is scheduled at Jeu de Paume in Paris.

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