New milestones in documentary

Exercise 30 - Martin Parr acknowledges and defends what he calls the "hypocrisy and prejudice" in his work. What do you think of this statement?

In the interview Parr states "I'm a very big hypocrite in so far that I'm making things of objects which become part of the thing, that if you read my photographs carefully, I'm preaching against. I love the fact that my work is surrounded by hypocrisy and prejudice and all these things people don't expect photographers to be pursuing."

Parr was born and lived in Surrey and comes from a middle class background, when he left home he moved north to study photography at Manchester polytechnic. Not surprisingly he was fascinated by this change in culture and obsessively photographed his new environment and 'align' inhabitants. (His story has striking similarities to Brandt's transition from Germany to the UK.)

His holidays, to the seaside, with his grand father no doubt also played a significant part in tuning his photographer’s eye when it can to the 'brasher' side of life.

As part of this course we have debated, at length, that it is difficult (if not impossible) for any photographer to be objective when shooting - we bring to the image our own personal baggage. Thus we are in essence a part of the images we create.

Parr's images are humorous at the same time as being cringe-worthy and just a little bit to close to reality for comfort, that said, they appeal to the baser instincts of the British general public. The vibe from the images is that Parr is always looking down his nose at his victims, not in a critical or chastising way but more with a sense of disbelief. The very fact that Parr is:

1.      Prepared to capture these images indicates that he is somewhat prejudice, add to that the style of the image – saturated colours and fill-in flash and the concept of prejudice is magnified. (e.g. The Last Resort)

2.      Able to capture so many choice moments clearly indicates that he must be able to relate to the individuals and the environments in which they find themselves - being of that class whilst publicly poking fun a is hypocritical. (e.g. The Cost of Living)

Thus, it would be pointless, even hypocritical, of Parr to refute that his images were not hypocritical and prejudiced.


Interesting quotes:
Parr wanted to join Magmum, because he believed an agency would be the most effective way to promote his work, he decided on Magnum because it was the best. Parr said "Magnum photographers were meant to go out as a crusade ... to places like famine and war and ... I went out and went round the corner to the local supermarket because this to me is the front line."

References:
You Tube - Martin Parr (part 1)
You Tube - Martin Parr (part 2)
Martin Parr
Magnum
BBC - The Genius of Photography