I was deeply saddened to hear the news of the passing of Martin Parr.
I was aware that he’d been ill for quite a few years, and had taken time to say hello when I’d seen him in London, Bristol or Paris, but he’d not let his illness slow him down too much, continuing to work hard and make pictures. He will be greatly missed by so many individually as well as the whole photography world and countless others will have similar stories to mine of feeling supported through Martin's passion to encourage other photographers.
I was fortunate enough to work alongside Martin as his creative producer in 2018 for his commission from Manchester Art Gallery, which resulted in the show Return To Manchester, a collection of his work made in the city over his illustrious career. As daunting a prospect as it was, it was a huge privilege to arrange access to all of the various locations and spend so much time with him visiting them together, ranging from BBC Media City, Manchester United v Liverpool, Pride, Irish Parade, through to Levenshulme Market (where he got spotted more than anywhere else we went), the local mosque, yoga classes, Bury Market, Afflecks Palace and the Graphene Institute. His favourite place, however, was Mackie Mayor, the Northern Quarter’s new food hall, of which I have a large print that he made during our visit and he selected for the book cover.
He had a relentless desire to make great pictures, and a confidence and sense of engagement with his subject that I’ve never seen in any other photographer. He was almost addicted to taking pictures. On some nights in Manchester, I would drop him back at his hotel after dinner after working all day, only to find out upon picking him up at 8am the next morning that he’d been out taking pictures the night before, into the clubs on Canal Street or at some sort of function he’d found his way into.
That year, 2018, was the most significant of my life for many reasons. At the start of the year I’d decided to leave my job managing a coffee house to go freelance full-time, and then began working with Martin in early spring. It was during one of our trips together, parked up at a leisure centre in East Manchester that as we sat in the car working out how to get to our next destination, that I received the call from my mum to let me know that my sister Jess had passed away. Martin was very gracious, taking the time to ask me about her, and in particular whether she had a faith.
A couple of months later we welcomed the arrival of our first daughter Tilly, but by the end of the year I’d also lost both of my grandmothers. Somehow, amidst that all, I had the capacity to help the curator to select the images for the exhibition and I recall the opening night, Martin had a lightness to him, he delighted in Tilly, who was only a few months old, an he carried a sense of ease at a job well done, different to the Martin I knew when working hard on location, focussed and searching for the next picture.
I reflect on that time with Martin, to have played a small part in his story and contributed to the creation of his images is something I will always regard as a huge privilege. He is a true great of the medium.
I just wonder who is going to document the remnants of British culture now that he’s not here?
A few words from Martin, taken from a recent Guardian article about his biography….
I have had a wonderful life with photography. From North Korea, to a vicar’s garden party in Somerset, or shooting Mar del Plata beach in Argentina – what a privilege it has been to see the world and record my response. I had a funny one in Morecambe last summer. I was taking photos and this couple came up and said, “That’s a nice camera. What are you doing around here?” I replied, “I’m documenting Morecambe.” They said, “You mean like Martin Parr?” I said, “I am Martin Parr.” They were rather surprised.
I’ve been taking photos for almost 70 years, and in that time we’ve seen the amazing transformation from analogue film to the digital era, and I’ve got a lot older. We live in a difficult but inspiring world, and there is so much out there I want to photograph.