British photographer Martin Parr, renowned for his colour-saturated pictures and the ironic gaze with which he observed his compatriots’ daily life, passed away on Saturday aged 73. The announcement was made by the Martin Parr Foundation in a press release.
Martin Parr – Afp
“It is with great sadness that we announce that Martin Parr (1952-2025) died on December 6, 2025, at home in Bristol,” stated the foundation. Magnum Photos, the agency for which Parr had worked for a very long time, gave the sad news at the same time.
Parr became famous thanks to his highly recognisable aesthetic featuring close-up shots and a saturated palette, and the amused, sympathetic eye with which he observed his favourite themes, like mass tourism and consumerism, and his subjects, from sunbathers with crimson-baked skin to village fête participants.
Over the last 30 years, Parr’s style won over many fashion labels, and he collaborated with some of the top luxury houses. Last year, the Fashion Faux Parr book traced his links with the fashion world, featuring some 25 images taken over the course of several decades.
Parr’s influence extended beyond the domain of photography aficionados, even if his documentary-style work, sometimes described as kitsch, earned him as many admirers as detractors.
Parr was born in Surrey on May 23, 1952. He was introduced to photography by his grandfather, an enthusiast himself, and began taking pictures in black and white, like the great masters of the 1970s.
He rose to prominence in the mid-1980s, with The Last Resort, a study of working-class people on holiday in New Brighton in Merseyside. It was a foretaste of his future work, notable for the use of flash photography for exteriors shots too.
After a career fraught with challenges, Parr became a full member of Magnum Photos in 1994, despite Henri Cartier-Bresson’s initial opposition. He went on to lead the agency from 2013 to 2017.
