From the rumors and whisperings that I have heard around Magnum Photographers and other Magnum agency folk, I know that Martin Parr is, for some- especially those of the more old-school-war-photojournalist set- a somewhat controversial figure. This is in part because of Magnum's roots in war photography, and also in part because of Parr's immense success and influence (though I always thought that if Elliot Erwitt was acceptable alongside the likes of Capa and Phillip Jones-Griffiths, then why not Parr; maybe his gravitational pull is moving Magnum unconsciously away from its war roots, but I find his photographic insights into the world to be no less revelatory than Jones-Griffiths work).I think that it took me a little bit of time to really get into what Parr has been tryng to do with is work (my first exposure to Magnum as an entity was the 'degrees' book, and Parr's work really stuck out of that collection both for its subject matter and formal properties) but he is now one of my favorite photographers and a huge influence on my own work (though I am careful not to try and copy him- Parr is Parr and its futile to try to do what he does best). I find his best work to be that which is both fascinating and disgusting: like a social and cultural train wreck that you can't look away from. In some ways I think his work and Bruce Gilden's street-surprise portraits are two sides of the same coin.
Here is a short little piece from TateShots about Parr:
No comments:
Post a Comment