01 / 06

Photographs by Martin Parr

Photoink is pleased to announce an exhibition of photographs by Martin Parr. This exhibition marks the first occasion for the internationally renowned British photographer's works to be seen in India. Parr is amongst the most influential photographers of our age, known for his innovative imagery and oblique approach to social documentary. This exhibition brings together photographs made both in Britain and India, examining his keen observations of people and particular aspects of culture.

Parr's curiosity about the world brought a lively irreverence in the world of photography from which it is still recovering. Imbued with humour, irony and satire, Parr's photographs make him an unusual documentarist. His photographs of the British working class in The Last Resort (1986) were highly controversial and he was accused of being voyeuristic, a tag he refuses to defend even today. Parr brought noise and subversion to photography. He coloured it with a saturated palette using fill-flash and celebrated the demise of the perfectly composed frame. His fascination for food and in particular junk food resulted in a series, British Food (1995), which heightened the debate around what people ate. Parr's photographs are a sharp commentary on gluttony and the excesses of junk food culture.

In 1994 Parr joined the legendary agency 'Magnum' and continues to be one its celebrated photographers. Parr has traveled the world in search of new subjects and his idiosyncratic gaze has not escaped India. Martin Parr in India 1984-2009, a book that will also be released during this exhibition, mirrors his evolution as a documentarist of the banal and everyday life.

Martin Parr's relationship with photo books is extraordinary: he has been extensively published, has edited photo books and has been regarded as one amongst the most significant collectors of photo books in the world. Photoink is delighted to add another book, MARTIN PARR IN INDIA 1984-2009, to his ever-growing basket.

HISTORY
Born in the UK in 1952, Martin Parr studied photography at Manchester Polytechnic. He became a full member of the agency 'Magnum' in 1994. In 2004, he was Guest Artistic Director for the Rencontres D'Arles photography festival in France. In 2008 Martin Parr was the guest curator of the New York Photo Festival. Martin Parr's photographs have been exhibited in more than 100 exhibitions around the world, and he has published 58 and edited 21 books. His photographs are part of major museum collections in the world.