"No one knows us Brits better than Martin Parr. He really sees us, for better or for worse. Baked beans on toast, Sunday cricket, fish and chip shops, Carnival parades, Jubilee parties, bog-snorkellers and seaside resorts have all comprised "Parr land", an ongoing tapestry of the island nation that has made Parr a name that is synonymous with Britishness itself."
"The tables have turned this year with Parr becoming the subject, first in Lee Shulman's documentary I Am Martin Parr, and now in his own autobiography, billed on his website as one "like no other". For Utterly Lazy and Inattentive, the photographer teamed up with friend and writer Wendy Jones, who, over many interviews, put onto paper Parr's stories about the 150 photographs he hand-selected for the book."
"Martin Parr: It's one of the classic phrases in my school report. I took it home and my mother tore it up in front of me, so I had to cellotape it back together. And here it is 50 years later, coming into its own. MP: There's no question about it. My French teacher is probably no longer around, but I'd love to show him what came of his report."
Martin Parr has built a photographic record that distills British everyday life into vivid, often ironic images. He selected 150 photographs and recounted personal stories and formative moments to Wendy Jones over many interviews. The collection traces family life, school days in Surrey, first commercial work for Butlins, a love of steam engines, bad weather and cobblestones, and the discovery of flash in daylight on New Brighton Beach that led to his embrace of colour. Signature subjects include baked beans on toast, Sunday cricket, fish-and-chip shops, Carnival parades, Jubilee parties, bog-snorkellers, queues and seaside resorts. An old school report labeled him 'Utterly Lazy and Inattentive'; his mother tore it up and he later repaired it, and the phrase resurfaces decades later as part of his identity. Photography is presented as the essential air he breathes and the means by which he understands and documents Britishness.
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