On meeting Martin Parr
I will admit that before I actually went to meet and photograph Martin Parr, I knew very little about him. I knew of some of his work, I know he is a “Magnum” photographer. Apart from that I knew little else.
Martin Parr? Who is Martin Parr? I know some who read this will not have a clue. Now having met him, I have a better idea.
He is pleasant, a little distant (until he gets to know you a little), pretty scruffy, well actually he is very scruffy. What does that even matter.
His photographic work is quite recognisable, he tends to use direct flash, and was a pioneer in the use of colour film on the ‘art scene’. He then started to develop using a ring flash with amateur film creating very saturated detail shots.
The upshot was he was eventually invited to join ‘Magnum’, the photographers group which started post WW2. He funnily recalls the fact that he is the only photographer to be accepted into Magnum twice. He explains that to gain access to this prestigious club, you need approval from 75%. He was awarded access by one vote, only for a latecomer to then vote ‘No’. He was out again. The ‘Yes’ campaigners then rallied around and found one of their own stuck in hospital, so a quick visit, another ‘Yes’ vote and Martin was again voted in.
Martin had been invited, well commissioned actually by the Sprengel museum, in Hannover to compile a body of work for an exhibition looking at the British influence in Lower Saxony, a large county of the German Bundesrepublic. The county has been strongly linked with the British for centuries, especially after the Royal links with the house of Hannover. On his travels for the project he was introduced to the British Military, a force he was not expecting to be too influential for the project, but turned out to be a major contributor.
Anyway, I digress, this is not about the exhibition, this is about him. Oh and me ;).
How do you approach a subject like Martin Parr? Love him or not, he has built a life out of photography, he is in Magnum for f*@$ sake. In the plain for photography, I am on the foot hills where as he is at the top of an Alpine peak. I wanted to get some portraits that included the exhibition. I won’t say I was overwhelmed, I felt ok. I knew he has a lot of portraits of people that do look awkward, it is a style thing with him (possible over simplified). I wondered if I could do the same. In hind sight I think I could have done better but then is that not photography?
You decide. What I will say though, if you are near to Hannover and have some time, go and see the exhibition. Having spoken to the photographer, perhaps I have that extra dimension, but it is great to see these images in their prime. The quality and vibrancy will never be as good in print or on the Web. It is always better to see art in the flesh.
http://www.magnumphotos.com/C.aspx?VP3=CMS3&VF=MAGO31_10_VForm&ERID=24KL5357TF
The mastery of life, work and Photography 
Hi Mark, I think Martin Parr sees things differently, he’s a maverick, I remember when he was younger, before Magnum, he turned up in Manchester, my old town, I listened to him, his stuff on New Brighton beach, Liverpool, was unusual, direct flash in harsh sunlight, fat sun burnt Scousers eating ice cream cones, but it was different, bright colour, where as we were thinking B&W, magnum style, he changed it, and it was not what we think of as ‘street photography’ which is all the rage now, Parr got in close and personal, he used a 5×4 MPP shooting colour neg sheet film, had massive flash heads clamped to the frame, and he still got shots of the punters at the Grand National, before they even knew they had been snapped by Martin Parr. They’d pay handsome money for those images now for their sitting rooms in Fornby…! I think he did a great job on the Army stuff in that exhibition…, I must look at it online. Do you have a link?
Best wishes, Pic Ed – Richard Watt
heck, sorry, that exhibition was years ago in Germany. I know there was a book out too called ‘we love britain’. I do have a signed copy that Martin gave me on the day, but you would have to pry it from my cold dead hand lol.
He even bought us lunch in the museum, he was a real gent!