Why Martin Parr Photographs Cliches on Purpose

Good photography comes from when someone has a good connection to the subject and they've used photography to articulate that. >> When we take photos or selfies at tourist sites, we often want to exclude other people from the frame. We want to create a sense of uniqueness, a kind of fantasy that it was just us and the moment. But of course, that's just an illusion because by doing so, we end up taking the same photo as everyone else. [Music] Photographer Martin Parr has a completely different approach. In this video, we will see how instead of avoiding the crowds and the cliches, he embraces them. >> Well, I often start with a cliche and then try and subvert it. If I'm going to an event, I'm looking for the places where things sort of, you know, happen. So I'm looking for backdrops which are very good. I'm looking for places where people come and congregate. Uh so you identify if you like the hotspot locations. Martin Par is a British photographer active since 1970s and a member of Magnum Photo since 1994. He's best known for series like the last resort or the cost of living. But in the late 1980s and early 1990s, he turned his attention to global tourism in a project called Small World. If you didn't know anything about Small World, you might think these are just colorful holiday photos. Tourists at the Leaning Tower of Pisa, people buying souvenirs waiting in the line at theme parks. But when Martin Park took these pictures, the world was changing. In Britain, after the teacher years, people had more money to spend. Cheap flights and package holidays made it possible for middle-class families to travel far beyond Spain or France. For the first time, places like Thailand or Africa were within reach. At home, you could see the new wealth, too. Families added fancy glassrooms to simple houses or filled their living rooms with IKEA furniture. People wanted to show their taste and their status even in small ways. Documentary photographers such as Chris Kellip, Paul Graham or Anna Fox were making books about workingclass struggle, unemployment or suburban office life. Part chose something different. Leisure and tourism. If the last resort showed the chaos of British seaside towns, Small World looked at how the new middle class consumed the entire planet like a giant theme park. The pictures are funny. Tourists in matching clothes holding video cameras posing in the same way as thousands of others. But there's also something sad. Each person wants a unique memory, a special photo with the monument. Yet seen together, they all look the same. Take the leaning tower of Pisa. Tourists act out the same ritual. Hauling it up, pushing it down, leaning against it. The tower itself is a symbol of history and travel. The poses are symbols too, of play, humor, fantasy, and as part explains, >> the first thing I noticed about the leaning to pizza is that people do these photos where they're trying to catch it or push it or lean it. And uh I then started to look for people who were doing that and would introduce that into the pictures. And that's what uh eventually came out as you got two or three people, you know, doing it at the same time. I mean, of course, when you take the the tower away from what they're doing, it looks very bizarre. And of course, you know, bizarre things make good photos. What do these monuments mean to the tourists who travel half across the world to see them? What do they mean to the locals who live in their shadows? What do they mean when seen through pars lens? Funny, absurd, critical, and strangely said all at once. In many small world photos, the monuments aren't the main subject at all. What you notice first are the tourists, their clothes, their awkward poses, their wish to capture a memory. The monuments fade, and the comedy of human behavior comes forward. This is the power of small world. Cliches are funny, but also a little sad. They remind us that identity is not fixed or unique. Often, it's the same patterns repeated again and again. Parr later published many books, joined Magnum Photos and influenced a whole new generation of photographers, but Small World is still one of his clearest works. Showing tourism as both a comedy and a critique of modern life. >> Good photography comes from when someone has a good connection to the subject and they've used photography to articulate that. >> And that really is the bedrock of what all good photography is. So that's what I'm looking for. But at the same time, I'm looking for that unique situation where it's the photographer and subject and that connection that surprises you or makes you intrigued or makes you want to look at it further. >> And maybe that's why cliches aren't something to avoid. In Par's hands, they become the starting point for photos to make us laugh, think, and see ourselves more clearly. So, next time you add the famous landmark, maybe don't hide the crowd. The cliche might just be the best part of the photo. Thank you for watching. [Music]