Only Human: Martin Parr @ National Portrait Gallery

Why you should see the work of Martin Parr on display at the National Portrait Gallery.
Tomorrow, Thursday 7 March, a new exhibition will be opening at the National Portrait Gallery that you should be adding to your calendar. Displaying both well known, and previously unseen works by Martin Parr, Only Human: Martin Parr is a riot of colour and activity. From scarves and bags to wooden fotoescultura figures displaying Parr’s face, this collection of works runs the gamut. There’s even deckchairs in the Beach room and a mirror ball in the Dance room. Aside from the wall of his famous Autoportraits, the main focus of the exhibition is the colourful and multicultural look at British culture. Rooms dedicated to tennis, horse racing, beaches, celebrities, and party culture show the Great British public living out their lives in a manner that is at points jarring and grotesque while simultaneously fascinating and beautiful.
“If there is any jarring at all in my photographs, it’s because we are so used to ingesting pictures of everywhere looking beautiful.”
Martin Parr
“The motifs he chooses are strange, the colours are garish and the perspectives are unusual.”
Thomas Weski, MartinParr.com
The National Portrait Gallery has set these works against a background of bright coloured walls, textured floors, and vinyl printouts that draw you into Parr’s strange and compelling world. You can’t help but be enthralled by the figures in the works and it brings on a sort of giddy effect that has you posing and laughing along with his subjects. You find yourself recognising yourself and the people in your life in the faces and scenes set out before you, making his work accessible to even the most sceptical of museum visitors.
“We keep on discovering these images over and over again in our daily lives and recognising ourselves within them. The humour in these photographs makes us laugh at ourselves, with a sense of recognition and release.”
Thomas Weski, MartinParr.com
As you move through the collections, you find yourself pulled further and further into the narrative of everyday life and eventually you realise you are sitting a café complete with bright red plastic chairs, diner style sugar dispensers, a menu selected by Parr himself, and Martin Parr beers complete with labels featuring some of his work. The feel is very much that of having accidentally stepped into one of his photographs, a very unexpected vibe when attending an exhibition in a national museum.
Stepping out the other side of the café, you are faced with the vivid yet somewhat grim reality of Britain today as Parr asks you to examine the concept of Brexit from the standpoint of the everyday. Unframed works give the space a more intimate feel despite the slightly cavernous, bare ceilings and stark white walls. The space makes you focus on the faces and lives of the people who will be impacted heavily by Britain’s departure from the EU. Parr chose to photograph areas of the country that stand at odds with themselves, many having voted to leave but also facing the economic consequences of such a decision.
Martin Parr, interview with The Guardian
“I’m simply creating entertainment. There might be some politics there, somewhere, but it’s lingering in the background.”
This poster-like display is juxtaposed by the Establishment section of the exhibition. Through a series of photographs set into identical gilded frames on an equally stark white wall, Parr shows the upper echelons of society in various situations that seem at once very detached from the unframed works they share a room with. Yet somehow, the way he captures faces and people makes them all feel accessible and familiar. The joy on the revellers from an Oxford ball scene could easily fit next to those at a town street party. The girl sitting on the floor looking a bit worse for wear in her formal dress might be any one of the women out on a hen night a few walls over. Even his image of the Queen, her back to the viewer, as she walks towards a sea of photographers gives her a vulnerable feel, slightly intimate feel. It gives the whole room a cohesive feel. His perspective on all aspects of the country and society makes it easy to see yourself in the shoes of any of those involved and makes you see the country not as Leave or Remain or areas marked on a map but as a diverse nation made up of many differing individuals, living out their lives as best they can in whatever circumstances they were born into.
“He examines national characteristics and international phenomena to find out how valid they are as symbols that will help future generations to understand our cultural peculiarities.”
Thomas Weski, MartinParr.com
Overall, Martin Parr’s collection of work and the manner in which they are communicated to the public can’t help but make you think, give you joy, and have you wanting to grab a camera yourself and start snapping away. Which is a good thing here, as photography, selfies, and sharing on platforms such as Instagram aren’t just allowed, but openly encouraged.
“Instagram has been a blessing. More people are engaging with photography, going to shows and supporting the industry.”
Martin Parr, Interview with The Guardian
Only Human: Martin Parr is a sight that needs to be taken in, enjoyed, questioned, shared, and discussed as a part of the British narrative and an incredible example of how art can impact everyone.
Only Human: Martin Parr is open to the public from the 7th of March to the 27th of May at the National Portrait Gallery. #MartinParrNPG