Appreciation of Martin Parr

[cliveh]

 

[ic-racer]

I appreciate.

 

[Rayt]

I just got The Last Resort. Good stuff.

 

[nikos79]

Not my cup of tea.
Too "smart" no "essence" in my opinion.

 

[Alex Benjamin]

Not my cup of tea.
Too "smart" no "essence" in my opinion.

Well, maybe should have stopped at "Not my cup of tea."

"Too stupid" happens quite often. Nothing, on the other hand, is ever "too smart." Intelligence is a virtue.

As for "no essence," how you don't get that Martin Parr, the man and his photos, is quitessentially British—i.e., that he managed, over and over again, to translate into images the very essence of a certain Englishness, its life, its humour, its absurdities, its idiosyncrasies, of the working and the middle class—is beyond me.

The man looked at the world around him, through the filter of his eyes, mind and character understood the world around him, and managed to photograph all that. If that's not "essence," then there is no such thing as "essence."

Just to be clear: Marin Parr's photography is not my cup of tea. In the sense that it's not how I photograph, or what I photograph. But I have boundless admiration for what he has achieved as a photographer, and I know there is a small part of the world I understand a bit better because of his photography.

And we won't even go into what the Martin Parr Foundation does for photography.

https://www.martinparrfoundation.org/about/

 

[Alex Benjamin]

I mean...

 

[nikos79]

I mean...

I understand all that. I don't undermine his value as a photographer or what he has offered or how he managed to show the "Englishness".
But as a photographer I have to say that he is repeating himself, he is not particularly "deep", and he resorts more than often to "clever" tricks."

That has nothing to do with his reputation or skills or legacy. This is just a personal reading and the last thing I want is to start a new flame because of that. Btw I appreciate you took the time to reply thoroughly

Edit:
Personally, I don't want a photographer to show me the world or England or whatever, if I want that I can buy a National Geographic. I want them to show me a different world the world of their own.

 

[Alex Benjamin]

But as a photographer I have to say that he is repeating himself, he is not particularly "deep", and he resorts more than often to "clever" tricks."

Well then perhaps you should question your motivation in posting in a thread titled "Appreciation of Martin Parr," don't you think?

 

[MattKing]

It occurs to me that Martin Parr's work makes a significant amount of use of some of the elements of what some might refer to as English humour.
If that doesn't resonate with you, you are unlikely to appreciate the work.

 

[nikos79]

It occurs to me that Martin Parr's work makes a significant amount of use of some of the elements of what some might refer to as English humour.
If that doesn't resonate with you, you are unlikely to appreciate the work.

Photography is not about humour

 

[nikos79]

Well then perhaps you should question your motivation in posting in a thread titled "Appreciation of Martin Parr," don't you think?

I knew we would get there but no I don't think so. Take a look at Atget's thread didn't see much appreciation there either

I just said one opinion no need that this will overpopulate the thread please ignore me

 

[MattKing]

Photography is not about humour

Humour is a fundamental element of human life. Human life is a fundamental element of Photography. Therefore Humour is a fundamental element of Photography.
Untitled, 1971, Garry Winogrand:

Q.E.D.

 

[MattKing]

By the way, that Winogrand photo is more American, while Martin Parr's work is clearly more English. To whit:
Martin Parr - 2019 - Crufts: