Let me re-state a quote from my original article about Martin Parr when Tamara and I saw him being interviewed at the V&A. You can find that article here under the title Martin Parr Interview.
I remember that during the interview, or before or after (I don’t remember) we were shown photographs from Parr’s black-and-white period, but nothing really struck me.
However, some of Parr’s black-and-white work is now on display at the Photographers’ Gallery, in the print-sale room adjacent to the shop. It is free to enter, and Parr’s work is on display until 19 April.
When his work is taken down, someone else’s work will go up. And those prints will be for sale too.
When I walked in I had no idea whose work I was looking at. I have a pretty narrow focus when I am intent on something. So when I saw the first two prints I said to myself that they could be Chris Killip, but then I thought not quite his style but near it.
By that I meant, humanistic, and involved with the people he was photographing.
Then I saw they were Parr’s work and the words he had said at the interview on 3rd September last year fell into place.
He said “when I photographed in black-and-white, I was looking for community and when I changed to colour it was to critique society.”
And that struck me as being so true and clear to me when I saw the prints in the Photographers’ Gallery.
I wonder what happened. Why the change? Why did he stop ‘looking for community’? Why did that forensic, cutting eye take over?
The price sheet for the sixteen prints on display under the title ‘A Fair Day’ says they are each priced at £6,840 including VAT.
Here are the two prints that I saw. I snapped them with my phone to reflect on. They were taken in Ireland and I can see why Parr would want to photograph there. Ireland, or perhaps some parts of the fringes of England, are years behind in the race into the future – and community exists there where it has dried up and blown away elsewhere.
In the first one, we see people watching a horse race across the sands. The man holding his jacket close to him says it is a cold day, and he ‘makes’ the photo.
The second one is another shot of people watching, in this case Dingle Races.
Finally, here is part of the statement on the reverse of the sales price sheet:
Martin Parr (1952 – 2025, UK) was a close friend and supporter of The Photographers’ Gallery. We were working together throughout 2025 on plans to show A Fair Day here. In keeping with his wishes, this exhibition showcases Parr’s early-career work in Ireland while honouring his long association with the Gallery. A Fair Day: Photographs from the West of Ireland presents black-and-white photographs made in rural Ireland in the early 1980s.
