Hi, Bob Walkden wrote:
> It's a different type of documentary style from the Picture Post and > Life style. Parr is more in the tradition of Tony Ray-Jones, who > worked in the style of people like Joel Meyerowitz (they were > friends), and turned that style onto the English scene. Parr has > extended that with the use of colour and, in my opinion, a less > sympathetic, perhaps even hostile, eye. He does have a less than sympathetic eye for his subjects 8-) > > You can trace the development by looking at Parr's early black & white > work, comparing it with Ray-Jones (probably a genius), and see how it > has changed. > > I admire Parr's work enormously, and his massive influence on British > photography and film-making, but I don't like the attitude he seems to > express in his work. I prefer the old-fashioned ideas of humanism and > dignity that Jacobson mentions. Seconded. The point I was trying to make, rather obtusely, is that many documentary photographers emphasise things in their work and Martin is continuing this tradition, albeit in a different way. I feel he is more "rejecting" old values in his view of the subjects rather than his technical means of portraying them. > "I just make it to 'Cruel + Tender' at Tate Modern before it closes. > [...] The show itself seems an incoherent mess, randomly thrown > together to make some kind of 'statement'. The usual suspects are included > from British photography, Martin Parr and Paul Graham ..." > [...] > "The art world feels threatened by good photojournalism, and feels the > need to rubbish it and then subsume it into the gallery circuit to > control it, like a dangerous wild animal. I have an explanation for > this. Successful reportage photography is hard work, time-consuming > and requires huge amounts of talent, energy, patience and committment. > It's much easier and quicker to resort to 'biographical' me-me-me > photography, the more obscure the better." I see this all the time at work: poor, deluded students taking Alevel photography, producing (very low quality, technically) work that is obviously meant to be photojournalism but is nothing more than a cracked mirror held up to their short, consumerist lives. I wouldn't waste good film and paper on it but someone in the Art department obviously thinks that they have found a mine of talent. > He goes on. Very enjoyable. Subscribe! I have looked at this site (www.foto8.com) before. I am rather tempted. mike
