Martin Parr CBE (born 23 May 1952) is a British documentary photographer,[3] photojournalist and photobook collector.

He is known for his photographic projects that take an intimate, satirical and anthropological[4] look at aspects of modern life, in particular documenting the social classes of England, and more broadly the wealth of the Western world.

His major projects have been rural communities (1975–1982), The Last Resort (1983–1985), The Cost of Living (1987–1989), Small World (1987–1994) and Common Sense (1995–1999).

[10]: 69, 70 Parr's aesthetic is close-up, through use of a macro lens, and employing saturated[12] colour, a result of either the type of film and/or use of a ring flash.

This allows him to put his subjects "under the microscope" in their own environment, giving them space to expose their lives and values in ways that often involve inadvertent humour.

[4] His technique, as seen in his book Signs of the Times: A Portrait of the Nation's Tastes (1992), has been said to leave viewers with ambiguous emotional reactions, unsure whether to laugh or cry.

[18] He was involved with the Albert Street Workshop, a hub for artistic activity which included a darkroom and exhibition space.

Parr spent five years photographing rural life in the area, focusing on the Methodist (and some Baptist) non-conformist chapels, a focal point for isolated farming communities that in the early 1970s were closing down.

[19][20] Critic Sean O'Hagan, writing in The Guardian, said "It's easy to forget how quietly observational Parr was as a black-and-white photographer.

[10]: 31  Parr has written that "I had also encountered the post cards of John Hinde when I worked at Butlin's in the early 70s and the bright saturated colour of these had a big impact on me.

For both, it represented a seismic change in the basic mode of photographic expression, from monochrome to colour, a fundamental technical change that heralded the development of a new tone in documentary photography.Karen Wright, writing in The Independent, has said "He was attacked by some critics for his scrutiny of the working classes, but looking at these works, one merely sees Parr's unflinching eye capturing the truth of a social class embracing leisure in whatever form available.

He photographed middle-class activities such as shopping, dinner parties and school open days,[29] predominantly around Bristol and Bath[10]: 42  in the southwest of England.

His book One Day Trip (1989) featured photographs taken when he accompanied people on a booze cruise to France, a commission from Mission Photographique Transmanche.

Between 1987 and 1994 Parr travelled internationally to make his next major series, a critique of mass tourism,[30][31][32][n 1] published as Small World in 1995.

[43][45] Critic Sean O'Hagan, writing in The Guardian, said "Back in 2004, he was invited by the organisers of the annual Rencontres D'Arles to be guest curator.

[9] In 2014 Parr created "Turkey and Tinsel", a 60-minute deadpan and often hilarious observational video documentary about faux Christmas in small town England.

[8] There is a gallery open to the public—its first exhibition was Parr's Black Country Stories[53]—and it is a hub for talks, screenings and events.

Leisure, consumption and communication are the concepts that this British photographer has been researching for several decades now on his worldwide travels... Parr enables us to see things that have seemed familiar to us in a completely new way.Dan Rule, writing in The Age, has said:[55] Parr's signature is his ability not only to isolate the most evocative of human details, but to elevate such visual fragments to that of the wider societal signpost or glyph.Parr was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2021 Birthday Honours for services to photography.