Think of England - Hardcover

Badger, Gerry

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0714839914 ISBN 13: 9780714839912

Publisher: Phaidon Press, 2000

Synopsis

Think Of England... the title is a dead giveaway. Parr is describing an England that is in the mind. The England of floral dresses, suburban lawns and seaside sauciness. Every tourist's view of England. Safe, chintzy middle-class or jolly yeoman working-class England with at least one foot in the past. You will look in vain here for grey, wet skies, inner-city problems, genetically modified countryside or an England which is as ruthlessly commercial or as much of a cultural melting pot as the United States. For Parr's England is a fiction, an idea of England. Perhaps an idea of an idea of England. Martin Parr, a thoroughly contemporary artist, is critiquing representation. It can't possibly be true, can it? It's so colourful for a start. One does not readily associate Day-Glo colours with England, except on chocolate boxes or English Tourist Board posters, but that's part of the point.
Ideas about England emanate from society, are filtered back into society and play their part in shaping society. Ideas, conceptions - and misconceptions - are acted upon. Cliche becomes part of the wider truth, part of the contemporary scene and not just nostalgic irrelevance.

About this title

About the Author:

Martin Parr (b.1952) is arguably Britain's most important contemporary photographer, with a unique perspective and unmistakable style, and with a critical and popular following in the worlds of art, fashion and journalism. He has been widely published and exhibited internationally. Books of his photographs include Bad Weather, The Cost of Living (1991), Small World (1995) and The Last Resort - Photographs of New Brighton (1997). His first book for Phaidon, Boring Postcards (1999), was a massive success, both in England and around the world, and his Boring Postcards USA (Phaidon, 2000) brings together the dullest postcards from the land of opportunity.

Review:

"An accessible and funny study into the soul-searching debate about the very nature of Englishness."-Pride of Britain "Parr provides the definitive picture of English egg-and-chintz."-British Journal of Photography "An affectionately satirical study of the English identity... The effect is both reassuring and disturbing."-Daily Telegraph "100 colour images... that transform the kitsch, the cliched and the common into the sublime."-Evening Standard "A wryly ambivalent amble through the commonplaces of his home country."-New York Times "Zeroing in on the abundant cliches of his green and pleasant land and pushing them as far as they'll go."-The Wall Street Journal "Uses supersaturated colors and a satirical eye to paint a portrait of his motherland that is both comical and despairing."-American Photo

About this edition

• Publisher: Phaidon Press
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0714839914
• ISBN 13: 9780714839912
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 144