Portraits of the British soul in the countdown to Brexit
Stefan Dege crh
March 7, 2019
What stirs in the British soul as Brexit approaches? Martin Parr's photos of his compatriots are now on display at London's National Portrait Gallery under the title "Only Human."
Image: Martin Parr/Magnum Photos/Rocket Gallery
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Martin Parr's 'Brexit Britain'
He is likely the most famous portrait photographer in Great Britain: Martin Parr. In light of the Brexit process, the London National Portrait Gallery is showing a selection of his often humorous pictures.
Image: Martin Parr/Magnum Photos/Rocket Gallery
After the battle
The legendary Magdalene May Ball is over, the battle on the dance floor a done deed. This man indulges in a cat nap — complete with pillows. Photographer Martin Parr shows the British simply as they are: in this case, deeply exhausted and in reverie.
Image: Martin Parr/Magnum Photos/Rocket Gallery
British in Germany
The tattoo says "English and Proud" but this shot was taken in Germany. The small town of Bad Fallingbostel had a British army base up until 2015. Ahead of the withdrawal of the British forces from Germany, Martin Parr looked for traces of Britishness in and around Hanover in 2013.
Image: Martin Parr/Magnum Photos/Rocket Gallery
From up above
Parr chose the bird's-eye view for this image of his British compatriots. His photograph shows British sun worshippers on the beach of Sorrento in Italy. The towels and clothing of the sunbathers lying close together provide a contrasting play of colors with the black sand.
Image: Martin Parr/Magnum Photos/Rocket Gallery
Click, click, but no cheering
It's all a question of perspective: Here, professional photographer Martin Parr takes Queen Elizabeth II's point of view. It's an unusual one as what she sees in front of her is an excited group of people taking pictures, apparently held back only by the state car, yet nobody is cheering.
Image: Martin Parr/Magnum Photos/Rocket Gallery
A dance of color
These Indian Bhangra dancers seem to dance as lightly as a feather through a room in Edinburgh, Scotland. In this image, too, Parr, who usually does not arrange his photos, relies on a play of colors between the actors and the calm background. Martin Parr, who was born in 1952, is one of the leading British documentary photographers.
Image: Martin Parr/Magnum Photos/Rocket Gallery
So near, and yet so far away
Summer in Cornwall on the English coast: Children and adults stare at the sea, the waving red flag warning them to stay out of the strong currents in the cool water before them. With strong colors and faces turned away, Parr's photo captures a sense of danger in the beyond. His photos, he says, are particularly cherished outside Great Britain.
Image: Martin Parr/Magnum Photos/Rocket Gallery
Dog and hat
Parr photographed this sun worshipper of mature age on a beach in France, giving it the subtle title, "Nice, France." The picture is typical of the Magnum Agency photographer and conveys one of his favorite themes: the aging human being. Parr himself is 66 years old. The photo exhibition entitled "Only Human: Martin Parr" is on show through May 27, 2019 at the National Portrait Gallery in London.
Image: Martin Parr/Magnum Photos/Rocket Gallery
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Euphoric night-owls, freezing swimmers at a winter lake, or merrily celebrating immigrants: 66-year-old Martin Parr likes to photograph fellow Britons in an unposed, almost ruthless way. That's probably why, as he once told the German weekly newspaper Die Zeit, he has obtained more renown and successful in France and Germany. The reason: "In both countries there is a certain glee about how England can be seen in my pictures," he said.
These now also accompany Brexit: Parr has captured fleeting snapshots on the record. Here, the queue winds towards an ice cream truck in the middle of a barren beach, there, young homosexuals dance uninhibited in a men's club. Or a skinhead dips his nose into the blossom of a rose. They are ironic, but always affectionate glimpses of the habits and oddities of his compatriots.
'The Perry Family'Image: Martin Parr/Magnum Photos/Rocket Gallery
Documenting British everyday culture
Many feel provoked, because the artist also doesn't hold back from cliches. Even more: Parr also captures the ugly, which is usually retouched. And so his works stand out from ordinary photographic art. Outgrowths of mass tourism, the aging and winking portraits of "simple" people as well as representatives of the nobility are his specialty. Parr is considered the most prominent documentary photographer of British everyday culture.
Martin Parr, born in 1952, studied photography in Manchester in the early 1970s. For many years, the Englishman has worked for the famous photo agency Magnum, and is renowned as one of the British documentary photographers who revolutionized the genre.
The exhibition "Only Human" is on show in the London National Portrait Gallery until May 27, 2019.
