Updated 6:28 p.m. GMT on Dec. 8
LONDON — Fashion figures paid tribute to the British photographer Martin Parr, known for his color-saturated images of middle England and knack for finding glamour in provincial settings, and day-to-day life.
Parr, who died from cancer at age 73, often focused on average people’s lifestyles. His book, “No Smoking,” showing old ladies, pub-goers and North Korean armed officers puffing away, was published last year by London’s Rocket Gallery.
His sense of irony and ability to see past class, money and traditional notions of style were just a few of the reasons why the fashion crowd loved him.
He worked with brands and magazines, including Gucci, Paul Smith, Saint Laurent, Jacquemus, 10 Magazine and Pop, on shoots, portraits and longer-term projects, bringing a fresh perspective to a world synonymous with gloss, aspiration and big budgets.
The editor and stylist Katie Grand recalls commissioning Parr for a Pop magazine shoot in the mid-2000s. “He went with Guido [Palau, the celebrity hairstylist] to a hairdressing competition outside of London and came back with the most brilliant set of pictures,” she recalled.
Grand said the shoot took place “at a time when fashion was ‘so capital city-centric.’ And his pictures showed just how narrow-minded fashion was at the time.”
Edward Enninful, cofounder and chief creative officer of EE7, said Parr’s passing is a great loss to the world and the creative industry.
“He was a truly authentic photographer; his work always having this delicate balance of British humor with honesty and candor. I’ll always remember the beautiful ‘Reset’ cover he shot during lockdown while I was at British Vogue — spring lambs against the Scottish landscape; it remains one of my favorite covers of all time,” Enninful added.
An image from Martin Parr’s “No Smoking” photo book.
COURTESY OF ROCKET GALLERY/MARTIN PARR
A spokesperson for 1 Granary, the fashion education platform, creative network and magazine, said Parr “didn’t just leave us images. He left us a way of looking. Parr taught us that observation is an art in itself, that if you pay close enough attention, the world reveals both its beauty and its absurdity.
“He showed us how to recognize the weirdness inside the everyday, and how humor can be a form of truth-telling just as sharp as critique. He moved through the world with curiosity, collecting small human habits the way an anthropologist collects field notes,” the spokesperson added.
Fashion designer Pau Smith described Parr as a joyful photographer and someone whom he was fortunate to call a friend. “It was an honor to know him and observe his brilliant wit and skill of the ‘caught moment,’” he added.
Han Chong, founder and creative director of Self-Portrait, said he was grateful to have worked with Parr, most recently in 2023, when he documented behind-the-scenes moments for the London-based brand at the Fashion Awards.
“I was struck by the way he found honesty in every moment and frame; never forced, always human. His humor, his precision and his ability to celebrate the ordinary will stay with me. Our industry has lost a true original,” Chong said.
Designer Ryan Lo recalled first meeting Parr over a shoot for Richard Mortimer’s Ponystep magazine in 2014.
“He had no assistant, quite rare these days. I found him incredibly down-to-earth and humble. Usually, for designer portraits, I step into the photographer’s world, but Parr came to my Hackney studio. It was raw, real, honest — his true legacy: capturing characters authentically in their environment,” said Lo, who considers Parr more of a journalist behind the lens than just a fashion photographer.
Simon Porte Jacquemus and Martin Parr attend the “Jacquemus x Martin Parr” book signing as part of Paris Fashion Week at Jacquemus Montaigne on Oct. 3, 2023, in Paris. (Photo by Francois Durand/Getty Images)
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“He went through my collection, picked the outfits, and I did face paint to contrast his usual casual aesthetic — thinking go big or go home. He sent me a signed portrait afterward, which I’ll cherish forever,” he continued.
Simon Porte Jacquemus said Parr’s work inspired him. “I will remember forever our project together when we created a book to document our first show in Versailles, ‘Le Chouchou,’ and our book signing.”
The French designer was referring to his fall 2023 at the Château de Versailles, where Parr captured models on the runway, handbags propped on garden chairs and Champagne-swilling guests clamoring for fresh cherries piled on silver trays.
Guillaume Henry recalled his encounter with Parr around 2010 when a magazine commissioned Parr to photograph him.
“It was a true, organic rendezvous. I literally stayed, let’s say, three minutes in front of his camera, and that was more than enough, because he was the kind of artist who captures the moment and doesn’t want to force things to happen,” he said.
The Patou creative director, who later collected several of Parr’s early works both in color and black and white, said he was taken by the timelessness of his style, capturing beauty in ordinary things. “It was very emotional, sensitive and full of human grace. I never had the feeling that he was making fun of people, even if they didn’t look at their best. It was always very gentle,” he added.
Martin Parr attends his exhibition “Short & Sweet” at Museo Civico Archeologico on Dec. 7, 2024, in Bologna, Italy. (Photo by Roberto Serra – Iguana Press/Getty Images)
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Sophia Neophitou-Apostolou, the founder and global editor in chief of 10 Magazine, said that when she was at The Independent newspaper, the team asked Parr to photograph Donatella Versace for the cover, “and he photographed her slurping on a big straw. I love the way he was totally there, but not there. That’s the key to a brilliant documentary photographer. You never know they’re there, but they’re documenting. All the normal things, you wouldn’t even think were worth documenting, he would find the beauty in them.
“He saw the world in such a unique way, and that’s what made his work so special. Five different photographers could take pictures of the same event, but he would always get the least expected, least predictable image. My dream assignment? I would have loved to have done a couture story, but with the customers. He would have found something so clever,” she said.
Parr was fascinated by human behavior, even at its most repetitive and banal. In an interview with WWD last year, he said he enjoyed observing people smoke, even though he never picked up the habit himself.
In the old days, Parr said he would always gravitate to the smoking part of airplanes because “you just get more interesting people. In other words, smokers can be more interesting. I always enjoyed the people I met at the back of the plane, even if I wasn’t smoking myself.”
The photos in “No Smoking” were based on his archive of 56,000 images at Magnum. At the time, the photographer said he was hoping to publish more themed books based on his archive.
“I’ve been photographing nonstop for 55 years, so if I wanted to do a book on dogs or cats, I could do that tomorrow, no problem. You name it, and I’ve got it,” Parr said.
Next month, the Jeu de Paume in Paris will dedicate a major show to Parr called “Global Warning,” a retrospective of around 180 works that spotlight overconsumption, mass tourism, social inequality and the invasion of plastic.
The show runs from Jan. 30 until May 24, and the Jeu de Paume said it will now be a “celebration” of Parr’s legacy, and a moment to honor him.
— With contributions from Miles Socha (Paris)