Martin Parr and Wendy Jones. Particular Books, (312p) ISBN: 9780241740828. Photography, read 12/12/25, Hardback ★★★★★

Utterly Lazy and Inattentive

This was another book that I got a little while back and had been savouring a picture at a time, but it seemed really apt to read it through as Martin Parr died recently.

With that in mind the book was even more moving and poignant than it would have been, though even then it would have been extremely moving as his humanity shone through in every story.

I’ve always liked Martin’s work and he is one of the photographers who really influenced how I see the world through the lens and how to make photographs and I got this for myself as a birthday present last year.

This is basically a memoir through time highlighting a photograph and then Martin Parr would talk about it and the time it brought to mind.

Each photograph deserves a long look, then a read of what is said about life, practice, and the time, and then read the photograph once more in that context. This really opens up Martin’s practice and thoughts on how he approaches the world.

I really think this format works really well here and doesn’t feel disjointed at all as a biography, it has a really good flow to it whilst letting personality come to the fore.

As the book gets to the end it is almost prophetic as well which was really sad, but this never came across in the words of the book, just with knowledge of what has happened since this.

If you’re a fan of Martin Parr, good biographies, or photography I’d really recommend this as a read.

I’m looking forward to re-reading it which is highly unusual for me and biographies but this is much more than just a biography.