Think of England

Description

England has been the key subject of Mangnum photographer Martin Parr's work since he started making pictures. This book is his vision of contemporary England, composed of work shot since 1999 along with projects on West Bay, and British food and flowers. The photographs reveal Parr's ability to transform the obvious into the surprising, reinventing cliches of Englishness as provocative revelations. His tour takes in seaside resorts, herbaceous borders, the bring and buy stall, cucumber sandwiches and cups of tea, Ascot, the charity shop, blotchy skin, baked beans and bad footwear. Simultaneous affectionate and direct, all the photographs are shot with a ring flash camera (normally used for medical photographs), his medium of choice.

Martin Parr (b.1952) is arguably Britain's most important contemporary photographer, with a unique perspective and unmistakable style, and with a critical and popular following in the worlds of art, fashion and journalism. He has been widely published and exhibited internationally. Books of his photographs include Bad Weather, The Cost of Living (1991), Small World (1995) and The Last Resort - Photographs of New Brighton (1997). His first book for Phaidon, Boring Postcards (1999), was a massive success, both in England and around the world, and his Boring Postcards USA (Phaidon, 2000) brings together the dullest postcards from the land of opportunity.

"An accessible and funny study into the soul-searching debate about the very nature of Englishness."-Pride of Britain "Parr provides the definitive picture of English egg-and-chintz."-British Journal of Photography "An affectionately satirical study of the English identity... The effect is both reassuring and disturbing."-Daily Telegraph "100 colour images... that transform the kitsch, the cliched and the common into the sublime."-Evening Standard "A wryly ambivalent amble through the commonplaces of his home country."-New York Times "Zeroing in on the abundant cliches of his green and pleasant land and pushing them as far as they'll go."-The Wall Street Journal "Uses supersaturated colors and a satirical eye to paint a portrait of his motherland that is both comical and despairing."-American Photo