Utterly Lazy and Inattentive

Martin Parr is the brilliant, understated, enigmatic British artist who transformed photography as we know it. As the world’s leading documentary photographer, he has spent decades observing, ironizing, questioning, and celebrating modern life. His photobooks take us from Scotland to Australia, Senegal to California, and everyone from his 740k Instagram followers (15% US) to former Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele and Elton John (who is a big Parr enthusiast, having used a series of Parr photographs as the backdrop for his Goodbye Yellow Brick Road tour).

Parr is unusual—a titan of the art world who is also beloved by the general public. In his bid to capture the brilliant, bittersweet absurdity of modern life, he transformed art photography with his compositions of deadpan, mundane snippets of life rich in humour, irony, and questioning. It was Parr who brought outdoor flash and colour into the exhibition room (and was promptly expelled by Magnum Photos for doing so—he later became Magnum’s president). He has received numerous prizes and lifetime achievement awards all over the world.

He also uses his platform to champion emerging photographers through the Martin Parr Foundation, and his work is, in turn, celebrated and supported by younger artists. The book features two master storytellers: Martin Parr and the oral historian Wendy Jones joining forces to create a uniquely vibrant portrait of one of the world’s best photographers.

What follows is a journey only Martin could devise: a journey which, in one hundred carefully selected pictures and stories, will showcase the extraordinary depth and range of Martin’s work; and tell the story of Martin’s life, his practice, and his philosophy (as well as his collection of Saddam Hussein watches).

Utterly Lazy and Inattentive by Wendy Jones and Martin Parr is a captivating exploration of both the man and his art, perfect for anyone fascinated by contemporary photography and storytelling.