British photographer Martin Parr has died at the age of 73, his foundation has announced.
Parr, who was one of the best-known documentary photographers of his time, died on Saturday at his home in Bristol, the Martin Parr Foundation said.
An Instagram post said the Martin Parr Foundation and Magnum Photos “will work together to preserve and share Martin’s legacy”.
Parr was born in 1952 in Epsom, Surrey, and had cited his grandfather as an influence on his work.
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The photographer, who was known for capturing the reality of British life, rose to prominence with his vibrant 1980s collection The Last Resort, which showed people at the seaside town of New Brighton in Merseyside.
Parr was a regular visitor to Ireland from the late 1970s and lived here for some time. His book, A Fair Day captured aspects of life in Kerry, Roscommon, Leitrim, Mayo, Galway and Sligo. Some 25 of his Irish photographs went on show in Dublin earlier this year as part of the Dublin Street Photography Festival.
Among his other exhibitions was Only Human: Martin Parr, which was staged at the National Portrait Gallery in London in 2019 and captured the “social climate in the aftermath of the EU referendum” of June 2016.
Parr won an award in 2016 which recognised his significant contribution in the field of visual arts, after a nomination by artist Grayson Perry. At the time, Perry described him “a major player in the whole culture of photography.”
Parr established a dedicated space for the Martin Parr Foundation in 2017. The foundation preserves photographic works and supports “emerging, established and overlooked photographers who have made and continue to make work focused on Britain and Ireland”, according to its website.
The photographer reshot his most famous work, with the aid of a mobile scooter, when he returned to New Brighton in 2024 documentary film I Am Martin Parr.
He told the Guardian in February: “There’s many things I dislike about Britain. Then there’s all these other things – the hobbies, the fairs, the agricultural shows, the beaches, Radio 4, a cup of tea – those I love. Photographing it all is a form of therapy for me. It’s defined my life.”
Parr was made a CBE in Queen Elizabeth’s birthday honours in 2021 for services to photography. He had been diagnosed with myeloma, a type of blood cancer, the same year. – PA
