Magnum Photographer : Martin Parr

for this blog entry, I chose to talk about Martin Parr's work, as he has always been one of my favorite photographers. You can find a selection of his work on the Magnum webiste.

Martin Parr was born in England in 1952 and he has been part of Magnum since 1994.
Here are my favorite pictures from his series ''The Last Resort'' which was shot in 1985 in New Brighton (England), as featured on the magnum website :

These candid images are all very provocative, but in a humorous kind of way. In the last picture, for example, Parr used the fact that none of the subjects were looking at each other to make us realize how ironic (and, if I dare say, even pathetic) the situation really is. Also, by placing himself behind the counter, he detaches himself as well as the viewer of the image from the action, making us feel almost like we should not be there, like this moment should not be shared, which adds to the complexity of the image. I think that overall, the way he uses sarcasm is very effective in this series.