In Conversation: Martin Parr


Delightful evening at the National Portrait Gallery listening to Martin Parr being interviewed by Phillip Prodger, the curator of the current exhibition of Parr’s work at the gallery.

I love Parr’s work having first discovered it at a show at the Science Museum a few years ago and he was everything I hoped he’d be, dry, witty and engaging. He sees himself as social documentary photographer and he discussed what he felt this was and how he realised he was building an archive of British life. He sees his main subject as the Western world at leisure.

They talked about what makes a good photograph and Parr said “I am waiting for the right cast to line up in front of my camera”.  He talked about his love of comedy and how he sees great truth and observation in it. He was asked if he represented clichés and said “Clichés become clichés because they are often true.”

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