Azinko
Established
The May edition of the Uk photo mag 'Photography Monthly' has an excellent interview/review of the English documentary photographer Martin Parr. Now 53, Parr has been documenting the ordinary with his unique blend of subtle humour for the past 30 years. A member of 'Magnum' since 1994 he is also Professor of Photography at the University of Wales. Recently, he has been in great demand for lending his subtle slant to advertising and also fashion,..or, as he claims, "non-fashion" portrail of clothing.
Although I know his work well, I had not realised that virtually all his current output is made using Mamiya 7 cameras.
Whereas his early B/W work had a kindly humour, the current colour output frequently has a chilling quality to the interplay of the characters which amazes the viewer. The many shots in the magazine are all worth studying as examples of the 'decisive moment' and its worth buying the mag just for the two images from Parr's '9/11 Tourism in New York' project,......icy studies of expressionless tourists and beaming attendants, delicately lit with subtle fill flash!
You can view some of Parr's shots on his website; www.martinparr.com although I found it confusing and hard to navigate to find his most famous shots. Also, his work can be found on magnums site at; www.magnumphoto.com
Although I know his work well, I had not realised that virtually all his current output is made using Mamiya 7 cameras.
Whereas his early B/W work had a kindly humour, the current colour output frequently has a chilling quality to the interplay of the characters which amazes the viewer. The many shots in the magazine are all worth studying as examples of the 'decisive moment' and its worth buying the mag just for the two images from Parr's '9/11 Tourism in New York' project,......icy studies of expressionless tourists and beaming attendants, delicately lit with subtle fill flash!
You can view some of Parr's shots on his website; www.martinparr.com although I found it confusing and hard to navigate to find his most famous shots. Also, his work can be found on magnums site at; www.magnumphoto.com
hoot
green behind the ears
Azinko - magnumphoto.com is a parked domain; try magnumphotos.com. 
Just had a look. Very nice photos. I agree with your assessment of his color work.
Just had a look. Very nice photos. I agree with your assessment of his color work.
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kuvvy
Well-known
Azinko, I saw the article too.
Parr certainly has a way of documenting people in his own style. He is genuinely intrigued by people, life and just the ordinary, everyday things we do and see. I went to a private viewing of his exhibition in Bradford. Great stuff!
I met him at the National Museum in Bradford in 2002. He came to do a kind of 'Audience with Matin Parr' interview type thing. It was both interesting and entertaining. He is such a nice guy too. I bought a signed copy of his book and that is excellent (heavy too!).
He spoke too of how whenever he goes travelling he finds a local photographer and has his own portrait taken. It could be taken in a studio or a even tent out in the sticks. He has no input, he just lets the local guy do it his way. He has a number of these portraits now from all over the world.
I did know he was using the Mamiya for his more recent work. Some time ago there was a program about him on TV and it showed him with the Mamiya. He also shot with a Yashica T4, on the program, when shooting some of the 'last car parking space' theme.
I was in Hebden Bridge on Sunday, a place where he spent some of his early years shooting. It's a popular place at the weekends and it's not too far from where I live. I like much of his work from that time, black and white documentary as opposed to the vivid colour work.
I too, enjoyed the article and agree with what you say. I would love to see more of his 9/11 shots.
Paul
Parr certainly has a way of documenting people in his own style. He is genuinely intrigued by people, life and just the ordinary, everyday things we do and see. I went to a private viewing of his exhibition in Bradford. Great stuff!
I met him at the National Museum in Bradford in 2002. He came to do a kind of 'Audience with Matin Parr' interview type thing. It was both interesting and entertaining. He is such a nice guy too. I bought a signed copy of his book and that is excellent (heavy too!).
He spoke too of how whenever he goes travelling he finds a local photographer and has his own portrait taken. It could be taken in a studio or a even tent out in the sticks. He has no input, he just lets the local guy do it his way. He has a number of these portraits now from all over the world.
I did know he was using the Mamiya for his more recent work. Some time ago there was a program about him on TV and it showed him with the Mamiya. He also shot with a Yashica T4, on the program, when shooting some of the 'last car parking space' theme.
I was in Hebden Bridge on Sunday, a place where he spent some of his early years shooting. It's a popular place at the weekends and it's not too far from where I live. I like much of his work from that time, black and white documentary as opposed to the vivid colour work.
I too, enjoyed the article and agree with what you say. I would love to see more of his 9/11 shots.
Paul
Jeroen
Well-known
I've followed his work for a while now and adopted his passion for collecting 'boring postcards'. From a Dutch tv-documentary, I understood that he used Nikons with macro lenses for his most colorful work, usually with highly saturated color negative film (Ultra 50?) and a ring flash. I've also seen him use a Plaubel Makina 67 with a Vivitar 283 in that same feature.
Jim Watts
Still trying to See.
Only the very latest medium format work is on the Mamiya 7 virtually all the well known earlier stuff Last Resort, Small Worlds etc. was shot on Plaubel Makina's usually with the more powerful Lumedyne flash units although sometimes a 283. There is also some that were taken on a Rolleiflex. The Plaubels are no longer made and spares are scarce so hes problably worn his ones out now. My W67 is still going strong luckily
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canonetc
canonetc
I've always wondered how he achieved such incredible saturation on his early British images....any one know if it was a lab, or if he set the film at a different rating then had it push or pull processed? Did he print it himself on a color enlarger and thus control the saturation? I haven't seen any print film other than the no-longer-made AGFA 50 that did such saturation....
chris
canonetc
chris
canonetc
saxshooter
Well-known
I was at a Mrs. Field's Cookies shop across the street from Penn Station about 2 weeks after Sept. 11, 2001. I heard a voice with an English accent ask, "May I shoot your cookies?" I turned around and saw a gentleman working with a Nikon camera hooked up to a ring flash. He seemed to be interested in the American flags on the cookies. I asked him if he was Martin Parr (on a hunch that it was him judging from the equipment and the subject matter) and it was.
I didn't know he was using medium format. I guess bigger format = bigger negative = bigger prints = bigger $$$ for print sales -- Must be a consideration!
I didn't know he was using medium format. I guess bigger format = bigger negative = bigger prints = bigger $$$ for print sales -- Must be a consideration!
Jim Watts
Still trying to See.
At the time of the "Last Resort & "Cost of Living" exhibitions and books the English photographer Peter Frasier was making most of Parr' s prints. I think he was mainly using 120 Fuji NPH400 colour negative at this time.canonetc said: