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Study Visit: Martin Parr Talk

This study visit was organised by Amano Tracy and took place at MPF Bristol on 14/12/19. The event consisted of Martin giving a personal retrospective account of his career and photographic life to date.

Parr was born in Epsom, Surrey, 1952 and was influenced by his grandfather a keen amateur photographer and member of the Royal Photographic Society.

Parr studied photography at Manchester Polytechnic from 1970-1973; explaining that the course was designed to produce commercial photographers with a heavy bias on the science aspects of lighting and darkroom etiquette. Here though, Parr collaborated with his contemporaries such as Daniel Meadows and Brian Griffin, culminating in projects based on the notion of Northern Vernacular. During this time, he and Meadows got work in a Butlins camp as roving photographers. His Diploma show ‘Home Sweet Home’ exhibited at the Impressions Gallery was to reveal many of his re-occurring tropes that would litter his work in the following decades; documentary, kitsch, collectables and domestic interior. The exhibition was also an expression of his frustration at the traditional studio-based course at Manchester.

Parr, Home Sweet Home, 1974

In 1975, Parr moved to Hebden Bridge in the Pennines. Here, he became involved in an artist’s cooperative The Albert Street Workshop ‘It was very good…people would drop in for coffee and it was very sociable. I had one wall…I displayed my photographs, and as I took new ones, I replaced them, it was a constantly changing exhibition.’ (Parr, 2014, 71). His time here would see him mature as a photographer as he engaged with local community projects such as The Non-Conformists; a project working in the community Methodist and Baptist chapels. A long form documentary project shot in black and white. He explained, when asked, that he gained permission to photograph and that he became familiar with the occupants, enough so they just ignored him, resulting in an observational style of documentary photography. While in Hebden, Parr also worked on other projects that would eventually become books, two being “Beauty Spots” and “Bad Weather”. For his project “Bad Weather” Parr purchased an underwater camera and flash because, as his project suggested, he was photographing in very inclement conditions. He told us that he became interested in the way the flash lit up raindrops and that they were to become an integral part of this body of work and that how this would inform the use of flash in his later projects.

One of his early set of collections were the postcard photographs of British tourist spots made by John Hinde, these highly saturated colour photographs and the work of influential American colour photographers such as William Eggleston, Stephen Shore and Joel Meyerowitz marked a shift in technique from black and white to colour photography. In 1982 Parr moved to an are just north of Birkenhead in Liverpool, from here he spent the next three summers photographing working class Liverpudlian seaside goers at New Brighton. The resulting book and exhibition “The Last Resort” marked a huge shift in British photography, enabling the embrace of colour as a serious representation for art and documentary photography. I honestly think that the release of this book enabled a huge leap forward for British photography especially with regard of its reach with the wider populous and the acceptance of colour as a serious genre within the British photographic sphere. The work was criticised by some for its exploration (some say, exploitation) of the working classes, but, for me it shows truth inherent in our class structure, and if by being unflinching he makes some people uncomfortable, then perhaps they just can’t handle truth. Let us not forget; photography is now, truly democratic.

Parr, The Last Resort, 1983-1985.

After receiving some criticism for “The Last Resort”, of which he said it was as equally beneficial to him as the plaudits he received, he decided to turn the camera on his own class, the middle class and so produced a body of work entitled “The Cost of Living”. The project was to coincide with the height of “Thatcherism”, which helped enable the middle class to become respectively more affluent. Photographing at such places and events as; Malvern Girls School, Conservative clubs, Laura Ashley shops, village fetes, garden parties and bowling clubs. Richard Ehrlich, writing in Creative Camera states ‘Some people criticised “The Last Resort” as being voyeuristic and/or patronising, and “The Cost of Living” will be open to the same sort of criticism, particularly as the satire is even more biting. People are most vulnerable to satire when they take themselves seriously, and the people in “The Cost of Living” take themselves very seriously indeed…Parr has caught the comfortable, confident classes at the apex of their pride.’ (Ehrlich, 1990). Personally, I’ve always enjoyed the satire in Parr’s work, I find the humour quite refreshing, after all, sarcasm, self-deprecation, the absurd and satire could be said to be inherent in British DNA.

The next books he produced focused his gaze outside of the UK as he covered the topics of tourism “Small World” and globalisation “Common Sense”. Parr is a prolific producer of photobooks and also a huge collector too. He famously sold his collection of over 12,000 books to the Tate, widely recognised as one of the greatest collections of photobooks. His collecting interests didn’t just stop at photobooks as over the years he has gathered all sorts of different ephemera such as: Saddam Hussein watches, Margaret Thatcher plates, Space Dog ephemera and much more.

In 1994 Parr became a full member of the Magnum picture agency. The vote to include him into membership was one of the most divisive in the history of the agency, with Philip Jones Griffiths circulating a letter decrying his inclusion. He was voted in with a two thirds majority by just one vote. He became president of the agency in 2014; a post he upheld until 2017.

In 2014 Parr set up the Martin Parr Foundation in Bristol. The building it is located in (and where this visit took place) houses Parr’s own archive in a massive database, his collection of book dummies and other acquired photobooks and is a centre for promoting British photography and photography concerned with Britishness.

After the talk there was a Q&A with Martin covering a wide range of topics from student’s questions. For me one of the most revealing insights came from a question asked by Helen Rosemier. Asking about the ethics of representation and Parr’s thoughts on the subject, considering controversies surrounding some of his images, and also whether he’s had blowback from people who thought they’d been misrepresented; he answered that he’d very rarely received comments from people featured in his images with regard to misrepresentation and that generally the reactions were positive. Regarding ethics he said “In terms of the ethics, you just take anything and then you decide later whether you use it and what context you use it in.” Answering Helen’s question on exploitation he said, “Photography by nature is somewhat exploitative…it doesn’t bother me because I think it’s important to have the creative freedom to be able to photograph anything that you want to.” Reassuringly, even someone as renowned as Martin has hundreds of duff images for each success, “It’s the nature of the beast when producing work that is reactive.”

I found this a very worthwhile day. To gain insights into the practices and thoughts of one of Britain’s most eminent and well-known photographers is quite a coup for OCA and I was surprised by the number of people who dropped out of the visit at the last minute – their loss.

Authors own image.

Bibliography

En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Martin Parr. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Parr&gt; [Accessed 12 March 2020].

Martinparr.com. 2020. Martin Parr. [online] Available at: <https://www.martinparr.com&gt; [Accessed 12 March 2020].

Pro.magnumphotos.com. 2020. Magnum Photos Photographer Portfolio. [online] Available at: <https://pro.magnumphotos.com/C.aspx?VP3=CMS3&VF=MAGO31_10_VForm&ERID=24KL5357TF#/CMS3&VF=MAGO31_10_VForm&ERID=24KL5357TF&POPUPIID=2S5RYDWKAOY8&POPUPPN=39&gt; [Accessed 12 March 2020].

Nytimes.com. 2020. Will Martin Parr’S Photos Change The World? He Doesn’T Think So. [online] Available at: <https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/17/lens/will-martin-parrs-photos-change-britain-he-doesnt-think-so.html&gt; [Accessed 12 March 2020].

Williams, V., 2014. Martin Parr. London: Phaidon.

Assignment 3: Submission

The largest part of our lives are spent sleeping in our beds, the second could be argued is spent in our workplace. Like it or not the jobs we hold form a significant part of our identity. Some of us shift about in varying career environments, whereas others are happy staying put in one place, and perhaps with one role for a lifetime. I have shifted around and returned to the job I trained in on leaving school – that of a plumber. My diary entries mainly focused on aspects of my job; the toll of manual labour, dissatisfaction of chasing payments, the bond between colleagues, the freedom of self-employment. I guess my diary entries are reflecting a shift in thinking with respect of my future and how I wish to progress.

For a while I was confused as to how to progress with the assignment. I had varying ideas but couldn’t settle on an outcome; whether to follow one strand or multiple. I knew I wanted to pursue a still life approach to show the unseen aspects of my work with a leaning towards abstraction or something visually appealing. I also decided early on to complete the assignment with my phone camera as this was the best way to make workplace still life’s.

On seeing Tom Sach’s Rockeths installation I also realised that the best way to convey the physicality of my work and to emphasise the labour required would be to make some more still life’s of the tools I use. I have a love hate relationship with this equipment, they enable me to maintain a level of pride in what I do, but, also, they are beginning to exact a toll on my body and I have become weary of them.

The final piece of the jigsaw was me. I felt it was important to show a little of myself, to allow my imprint on the story. I wanted to show signifiers that enable the viewer to understand the environment without spelling it out. I also wanted it to be reminiscent of  snapshot images from old family albums, so I went in close with flash on, to give a stark shadow or highlights off reflective surfaces.

OCA Midlands: Blast! Festival

This was OCA Midlands inaugural event organised by Allan O’Neill. Firstly, I’d like to thank Allan for his determination at getting this regional group off the ground. After several attempts previously and personal challenges, his enthusiasm and effort to see the formation of a lens-based Midlands group must be applauded. Thank you Allan, I look forward to many more events.

The Blast! Festival is a series of events and exhibitions taking place in Sandwell’s six district towns. Featuring the work of 40 photographers, artists and curators; the aim of the festival was to be inclusive with the local population, to work with communities and to highlight exceptional stories about everyday life. The events were organised under the auspices of a local organisation called MultiStory, who work with local residents, artists, photographers, writers and filmmakers and have developed an archive of work over the last nine years called The MuliStory Collection. Previous collaborators have included the likes of Martin Parr, Susan Meiselas, David Goldblatt and Margaret Drabble. They are a registered charity working with a range of partners from the arts, media, education and local councils.

We started our day off at a venue called The Vine in West Bromwich with our host for the day, a local photographer, Stephen Burke. Stephen’s exhibition ‘The Lord’s My Shepard’ was being shown there. The exhibition features portraits of West Bromwich Albion supporters in matchday regalia, against plain, coloured backgrounds, representative of the club’s home and away football colours and was shot in a pop-up studio either at the Vine or near the ground itself. The work aims to show the emotional connection that the club has with the fans and the identity of West Bromwich. Alongside the photography Stephen collected interviews with the fans and also recorded the noise of the collective mass of supporters at the ground, whether in song or nervous anxiety or spontaneous joy. After viewing the exhibition and a break for food we were given an engaging talk by Stephen. During his talk he explained his journey through his BA and MA at Falmouth and Westminster respectively, stating that when he was making his early portraits he would barely engage with his subjects other than to ask whether he could take their picture, admitting that he regrets this approach now and that he wished he had taken contact details at the very least. Explaining that he is mainly concerned with the framework of identity and place, his early projects such as Longbridge Public Art Project and Built to Last: Austin Village at 100 exemplify this approach. I was particularly interested in his work around the car manufacturing industry in Birmingham as I have family history connected to the Land Rover car plant in Solihull, and further back (1750’s), ties to the armaments trade, all of which I’d like to explore sometime, maybe as my year three project (a long way off yet!). Explaining his approach to the fan portraits it was interesting to hear of the communication of respect and that he’s not overbearing with direction, rather letting his sitters be in the moment, although he did admit to having to find a way of working around extraneous distractions from time to time. The project was also a collaboration with several identity strands within the supporter network; such as the LGBTQ+ and Polish communities. MultiStory commissioned the project after Stephen submitted a successful application and gave him a time scale of 18 months, which he said he was thankful of because it gave him a greater chance to develop the project. I think that most of us students found Stephen thoroughly engaging and generous with his time and insights.

Next, we headed to The British Muslim School for a series of exhibitions under the banner Girl Gaze. The works were an exploration of identity in relation to the Punjab and the diaspora communities scattered through the Black Country, communicated through the voices of young girls and women, exploring themes such as; gender, tradition, place, culture and belonging, which affect the lives of women in both countries. The artists featured were Jocelyn Allen, Jennifer Pattison, Andrea Fernandes, Uzma Mohsin and also a multi-media display by Dawinder Bansal who explored the liberation that Asian women attained when passing their car tests. My favourite work was Rice Pudding Moon & The River of Dreams by Jennifer Pattison. There was something very dream like about the work, not surprising as she often uses stories of imagined worlds as a creative springboard. The inspiration for the series were Punjab loris, a style of song sung by the Bazigar communities and lullabies that became popularised by Bollywood. The work relates to Jennifer’s own feelings towards her daughter and the songs she sings to her, but also to a curiosity of how lullabies are passed down from generation to generation and how these songs connect the two communities in Patiala and the West Midlands.

On the way to our next collection of works at the old Poundland we passed by the now familiar street portraits on Niall McDiarmid. His sometimes garishly colourful imagery shows off the multi-cultural aspects of the area and were exhibited in the many Metro stops along the High Street. I have to admit that I found our last venue at Poundland a little overbearing; there was just too much imagery crammed into one place and at times it felt thrown together, there seemed not enough room between the works to enable them to breathe or me, at times it felt like a visual migraine. The two successful works here had the lion’s share of the space and were presented with plenty of room to flow peacefully, both featuring work made within the Polish communities. Czeslaw Siegieda documented from 1970 until the 80’s, shooting in black and white and capturing a wide variety of the displaced community, including; daily home life, religious festivals, remembrance, funerals and commemoration. Jon Tonks work was made in the period post Brexit and tackles subjects such as cultural identity, hopes and fears of the community in a highly charged political environment. Shot in colour and with a contemporary aesthetic, I feel more drawn to Jon’s work, but, and it’s a big but, I question who has the greater authority, an insider or an outsider? This is a question I’m about to tackle in my next piece of coursework. Czeslaw’s work has a feel of greater authenticity about it, the black and white images match the timeframe of when they were made, leaving me feeling immersed in the frame, as though I’m integrating with his subjects. Although I like the vibrancy and aesthetic of Jon’s images there is a sense of detachment, a slightly voyeuristic feel to them and definitely a sense of them having undergone direction from the photographer.

The last work that we were able to view was made by Nilupa Yasmin. The work was made in and around the markets of Sandwell, featuring the many cultural backgrounds present there. Nilupa then weaves her images together, creating colourful patterned work that is reflective of the people and products that are for sale. Coming from a more traditional standpoint, as in, the presentation of work, I’ve become more engaged with differing approaches to presentation since embarking on the course, so hats off to the OCA for opening my eyes to a wider range of artistic endeavours.

We capped the day off with a final Q&A with Stephen in a local coffee shop, where he gave insights regarding entering into the world of professional commissioned photography. I’m sure that we would’ve grilled him into the night if allowed. All in all, this was a very rewarding study day and I’m feeling very upbeat with the thoughts of more regional get togethers.

Illustrations

Authors own

Bibliography

Blast!. (2019). Blast!. [online] Available at: https://www.blastphotofestival.com [Accessed 1 Jul. 2019].

Multistory.org.uk. (2019). About. [online] Available at: https://multistory.org.uk/about/ [Accessed 1 Jul. 2019].

Stephen Burke. (2019). The Lord’s My Shepherd — Stephen Burke. [online] Available at: http://stephenpburke.com/the-lords-my-shepherd [Accessed 1 Jul. 2019].

Jon Tonks. (2019). Stories of Home – Jon Tonks. [online] Available at: https://www.jontonks.com/work/stories-of-home/ [Accessed 1 Jul. 2019].

Czeslawsiegieda.com. (2019). Czesław Siegieda Documentary Photographer. [online] Available at: https://czeslawsiegieda.com [Accessed 1 Jul. 2019].