The acute observation, wit and colour of Martin Parr's work since the mid-1980s has established his as one of the most successful and popular contemporary photographers and a leading member of the prestigious Magnum agency. The only comprehensive monograph of Martin Parr's entire career to date, this 2nd edition has been updated with new photographs and a chapter assessing his most recent photographic work, as well as his film-making, curating, collecting and editing.

Life's a Beach, the exhibition, opens in Lyon, France in September 2012 (travelling internationally thereafter). In the United Kingdom, one is never more than seventy-five miles away from the coast. With this much shoreline, it's not surprising that there is a strong British tradition of photography by the seaside. American photographers may have given birth to street photography, but according to photographer Martin Parr, in the UK, we have the beach! This compilation, his first on the topic, presents photos of beachgoers on far-flung shores, including Argentina, Brazil, China, Spain, Italy, Latvia, Japan, the United States, Mexico, Thailand, and of course, the UK, among others. This book shows Parr at his best, startling us with the moments of captured absurdity and immersing us in the rituals and traditions associated with beach life the world over.

Martin Parr is an affordable, pocket-sized monograph charting the influential photographer's entire career, from his early black and white photographs to works from his major projects, including The Last Resort and Think of England. Features an introductory essay by Sandra D. Phillips, Senior Curator of photography at the SFMOMA.

This book provides a unique perspective on the story of photography through the particular history of the photobook. The first of two extensive volumes, it is a study of the major trends and movements that have shaped the photobook genre since the birth of photography in the early nineteenth century. It represents a valuable catalogue of rare and important photobooks. This volume covers the history of photobooks from the earliest examples of the genre from the nineteenth century, through the modernist and propaganda books of the 1930s and 40s, to the radical Japanese photobooks of the 60s and 70s. While the history of photography is a well-established canon, much less critical attention has been directed at the phenomenon of the photobook, which for many photographers is perhaps the most significant vehicle for the display of their work and the communication of their vision to a mass audience. In the first of two volumes, both co-edited by Martin Parr and Gerry Badger, The Photobook provides a comprehensive overview of the development of the photobook, from its inception at the dawn of photography in the early nineteenth century through to the radical Japanese photobooks of the 1960s and 70s, by way of the modernist and propaganda books of the 1930s and 40s. In his introduction, Badger argues that the photobook is one of the most significant photographic genres due to the extent of its distribution and level of availability, and contests the traditional notion that the history of photography is best represented by the original print. This study provides an important corrective to the traditional history of photography. The selection of photographers made by Badger and Parr challenges the popular canon, and their survey of the history of the photobook reveals a secret web of influence and interrelationships between photographers and photographic movements around the world. The book is divided into a series of thematic and broadly chronological chapters, each featuring a general introductory text providing background information and highlighting the dominant political and artistic influences on the photobook in the period, followed by more detailed discussion of the individual photobooks. The chapter texts are followed by spreads and images from over 200 books, which provide the central means of telling the history of the photobook. Chosen by Parr and Badger, these illustrations show around 200 of the most artistically and culturally important photobooks in three dimensions, with the cover or jacket and a selection of spreads from the book shown. Volume One also features an illuminating and provocative introduction, 'The Photobook: Between the Film and the Novel' by Badger, which is accompanied by a preface written by Parr.

While the history of photography is a well-established canon, much less critical attention has been directed at the phenomenon of the photobook, which for many photographers is perhaps the most significant vehicle for the display of their work and the communication of their vision to a mass audience. In the second of two volumes, both co-edited by Martin Parr and Gerry Badger, the history of the photobook is brought fully up to date. This volume covers company photobooks, artists' photobooks, photobooks that have been compiled by editors (rather than photographers), as well as the most recent photobooks, which chronicle contemporary life. This study provides an important corrective to the traditional history of photography. The selection of photographers made by Badger and Parr challenges the popular canon, and their survey of the history of the photobook reveals a secret web of influence and interrelationships between photographers and photographic movements around the world. The book is divided into a series of thematic chapters, each featuring a general introductory text providing background information and highlighting the dominant political and artistic influences on the photobook in the period, followed by more detailed discussion of the individual photobooks. The chapter texts are followed by spreads and images from over 200 books, which provide the central means of telling the history of the photobook. Chosen by Parr and Badger, these illustrations show the most artistically and culturally important photobooks in three dimensions, with the cover or jacket and a selection of spreads from the book shown.

This book is the comprehensive account of Martin Parrs unique postcard collection. Featuring 650 cards, selected by Parr from his collection of over 20,000 cards built over 30 years, its contents are presented in the manner of a postcard album. A highly entertaining journey into the themes of Parrworld, it is also a serious study of postcard history through the 20th century. Presented in 20 chronologically sequenced chapters, this book opens with British postcards from the beginning of the century, made to mark notable local news events such as car crashes, murders, lightning strikes and acts of suffragette vandalism.It continues through the elaborate story-telling postcards of W Gothard, whose Barnsley studio commemorated mining and shipping disasters; a collection on incidents of World War I, from scenes of bombing to celebrations of war heroes; novelty portrait postcards from the 1920's and 1930's; bizarre hand-coloured cards from the 1930's; and, the holiday postcards of John Hinde that so influenced Parrs own photographic style. This book ends in Boring Postcards territory with a selection of late 20th century postcards promoting new motorways, airports and shops.