The Last Resort
Martin Parr
Dewi Lewis Publishing
Essay by Gerry Badger
88 pages, 40 colour photographs
24.5cm x 30cm
Hardback
ISBN: 978-1-904587-79-8
When Martin Parr’s The Last Resort was first published and exhibited in 1986 it divided both critics and audiences alike. Some saw it as the ‘finest achievement to date’ of colour photography in Britain whilst others viewed it as ‘an aberration’. However it was viewed, it was undoubtedly a sharp, bitter satire of the Britain of the Thatcher years. With the benefit of hindsight there is little doubt that it transformed documentary photography in Britain and placed Parr amongst the world’s leading photographers. The book is now recognised as a ‘classic’ and early editions are highly sought by collectors worldwide.
About the Artist:
Martin Parr (born 23 May 1952) is a British documentary photographer, photojournalist and photobook collector. He is known for his photographic projects that take an intimate, satirical and anthropological look at aspects of modern life, in particular documenting the social classes of England, and more broadly the wealth of the Western world. His major projects have been rural communities, The Last Resort, The Cost of Living, Small World and Common Sense.
Since 1994, Parr has been a member of Magnum Photos. He has had around 40 solo photobooks published, and has featured in around 80 exhibitions worldwide – including the international touring exhibition ParrWorld, and a retrospective at the Barbican Arts Centre, London, in 2002.
Artist Website
About the Author:
Gerry Badger is a photographer, architect, and photographic critic. He has written extensively for the photographic press, and has curated a number of exhibitions, including The Photographer as Printmaker (1980) for the Arts Council of Great Britain, and Through the Looking Glass: Post-war British Photography (1989) for the Barbican Arts Centre, London.
Author Website
About the Publisher:
Dewi Lewis Publishing is a partnership owned and run by Caroline Warhurst and Dewi Lewis.
Founded in 1994, its photography list has an international reputation and includes books by leading British and international photographers such as William Klein, Martin Parr, Simon Norfolk, Fay Godwin, Tom Wood, Sergio Larrain, Frank Horvat, John Blakemore, Paolo Pelegrin and Bruce Gilden. The aim of the company is to bring to the attention of a wider public, accessible but challenging contemporary photography by both established and lesser known practitioners. The company has a worldwide distribution network and is recognised as one of the leading photographic publishers in the world. It publishes around 20 new titles each year.
Dewi Lewis Publishing also works in close collaboration with a number of European publishers and is a founding member of The European Publishers Award for Photography, which is now beginning its 22nd year. In 2014 Dewi Lewis Publishing received the PhotoEspana’s prize for Outstanding Publishing House of the Year.
Publisher Website
Book Materials and Specifications:
Hardcover book, medium size (10 x 12″). Colour plates inside are all 9.5 x 8″.
