Celebrated British documentary photographer Martin Parr has died at his home in the western English city Bristol, his foundation announced on Sunday. He was 73.
Famous for his kitschy colour-saturated images capturing all aspects of life in Britain and beyond, Parr had a sharp eye for mundane oddities, whether it was the rich at play or working-class scenes.
At times a controversial figure accused of cruelty for his refusal to flatter his subjects, Parr was unapologetic and became widely considered a legend of his craft.
“It is with great sadness that we announce that Martin Parr (1952-2025) died yesterday at home in Bristol,” a statement on The Martin Parr Foundation’s website said.
“Martin will be greatly missed,” it added, noting he is survived by his wife Susie, his daughter Ellen, his sister Vivien and his grandson George.
“The family asks for privacy at this time,” the statement said.
It added the foundation and Magnum Photos — the prestigious agency he was a member of since 1994 and president of from 2013 to 2017 — will “work together to preserve and share Martin’s legacy”.
No further details around the circumstances of his death were provided.
Parr had previously revealed being diagnosed with myeloma, a type of blood cancer that affects bones and different parts of the body.
– ‘Giant’ –
Photographer Diane Smyth, editor of the British Journal of Photography, called him a “international legend” of the field, noting he was one of the first in documentary work to embrace colour.
“A giant of photography, Martin Parr fostered a seachange in documentary at Magnum Photos,” she wrote in a tribute posted online.
“He also championed other image-makers, supporting them through his collection and through his publishing activities and gallery space.”
Although Parr travelled the globe during his decades-spanning career — snapping images from North Korea to Albania, Japan to Russia — he was best known for his unvarnished, warts-and-all depictions of Britain.
He said he felt connected with the country’s “history of satire and humour” but confided to AFP in 2019 — amid Brexit divisions — to having “a love-hate relationship with the British”.
“I love the country… the hate is from the bigotry, xenophobia that caused the Brexit vote,” he explained.
“You can express that apparent contradiction very effectively by photographing it.”
Parr relished picturing everyday settings like supermarkets, village fetes and coffee meets.
But in his pictures, sagging flesh is mercilessly exposed, food shovelled into mouths, luxury flaunted, often with unflattering results serving as a critique of modern consumer culture.
Not everyone was a fan.
Late French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson, who was among several photographers who tried to block Parr’s entry into the Magnum, said he appeared to come “from a totally different planet”. The comment was not intended as a compliment.
Parr later revealed: “I always cherish this remark, and wrote back, ‘I know what you mean, but why shoot the messenger?'”
– ‘Never looked back’ –
He kept working into his 70s, recently releasing his latest book — he has published scores — in the form of an autobiographical collection of photographs paired with his wry commentary.
Called “Utterly Lazy and Inattentive”, the title stemmed from a French teacher’s damning school report on him when he was 14.
The autobiography charts his journey from son of a birdwatching father to acclaimed photographer.
Born and raised in Surrey, south of London, in the 1950s, Parr was inspired by his grandfather, a keen amateur photographer, and opted for his chosen career while still a teenager.
After studying at the University of Manchester, he began fairly conventionally, taking formal black-and-white shots that aped the great masters of the time such as Cartier-Bresson.
But he found himself drawn to the amusing seaside postcards and other kitsch items of everyday 1970s Britain, as well as colour, which was becoming the standard in photography.
“Once I tried colour, I never looked back,” he told AFP in 2022, following decades of acclaim and success.
London’s Barbican Art Gallery and Paris’s Jeu de Paume were among the notable venues to stage retrospectives of his work.
In an interview with AFP published last month, he argued the world has never been more in need of the kind of satire captured in his images.
“The state we’re all in is appalling,” he told AFP in Paris. “We’re all too rich. We’re consuming all these things in the world. And we can’t. It’s unsustainable.”
jj/rmb
