Luminous Landscape Forum
The Art of Photography => Discussing Photographic Styles => Topic started by: Rob C on December 07, 2025, 03:46:42 pm
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Just seen, on Spanish tv news, the announcement of the passing of Martin Parr.
R.I.P.
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According to his obituary in the Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2025/dec/07/landmark-british-photographer-martin-parr-dies-aged-73), he had a rough start at Magnum:
The agency’s founder and guiding light, Henri Cartier-Bresson, had dismissed Parr’s work as being “from another planet” compared with the artists on the roster at the time. The Welsh Vietnam war photographer Philip Jones Griffiths campaigned against his admission, saying: “Anyone who was described as Margaret Thatcher’s favourite photographer certainly didn’t belong in Magnum.” In the end, Parr was admitted by one vote, a sign that the agency was slowly modernising: Parr would go on to serve as Magnum’s president between 2014 and 2017.
But for my money, he had a great eye for the kind of ironic moments that make classic street photography. In addition to the obit, the Guardian published a generous selection (https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2025/dec/07/martin-parr-photographer-career-in-pictures) of his pictures.
(The above links are from the newspaper's U.S. website; I trust they will resolve properly for users in other countries.)