The Last Resort: Photographs of New Brighton

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The best detail is of course, the fake baby in the stroller– which follows up well to the previous image of the baby also in the photograph.

The book then transitions to a young couple– the couple looking as if they are having some small argument or spat. The man looks despondent — away from his wife and crossing his legs. The woman is looking a bit annoyed or upset with her husband– and you have presumably their son being annoying and butting into the conversation. Today, The Last Resort is seen as a classic that is often highly sought after by photographers and aspiring artists. Steering a risky course between impartiality and voyeurism, Parr observed the slowly decaying and crumbling town of New Brighton as well as the holidaymakers that frequented the town with a new and disturbing perspective. Though they didn’t shoot together, all three photographers knew each other and knew each others’ work, Grant and Wood sometimes showing each other their photographs and Grant studying under Parr at Farnham College, and Wood and Parr exhibiting their New Brighton pictures together at the Open Eye Gallery in Liverpool in 1986. And now work by all three is being brought together in an exhibition in New Brighton, in a sailing school that looks over many of the sights recorded in their images.

Observing the British

At the time, Martin Parr’s series of photographs from New Brighton, a dilapidated seaside spot on the Wirral, were seen as condescending. But now they look humorously engaged and fond, bringing British working-class nooks and crannies into view, and reminding us how unusual that was (and is) in art photography.” The book is now coming to an end, and Parr displays two images of what symbolizes to me– English stoicism and fortitude. Despite that it is a rainy and overcast day, they are still trying to enjoy their time at the beach on the lawn chairs. If there is any jarring at all in my photographs, it’s because we are so used to ingesting pictures of everywhere looking beautiful.” The next shot in the sequence seems to be around the same area– by the murky water (with everyone sitting on the concrete). You see multiple actions going on– and a nice use of filling the frame by Parr. You have the little boy in the center holding up what looks like a wooden bicycle wheel with a heroic gesture (almost like a Roman statue), the woman with the red shirt and waving hair dipping her child playfully in the water, and the woman in the middle looking over with an exasperated gesture (hand on her face, and elbow slouched over her knees). The Last Resort is a series of forty photographs taken in New Brighton, a beach suburb of Liverpool. Shot with a medium format camera and daylight flash, the photographs are an early example of Parr’s characteristic saturated colour, influenced by the American colour photography of William Eggleston (born 1939) and Garry Winogrand (1928-84). Parr printed eleven images from The Last Resort in a large-format edition of five for his 2002 retrospective at the Barbican Art Gallery, London. New Brighton, Merseyside (25) is one of four works from this special edition owned by Tate.

And the little boy himself seems confused and a bit overwhelmed with all of this action. And the “cherry on top” in terms of details in this shot is that little bright-red shovel in the bottom of the frame, once again popping out of the frame. Martin Parr’s distinctive style of photography captures the oddities and humours of everyday British life through a vibrantly coloured, hyper-realistic lens. At the beginning of the 1980s Parr’s work aimed to mirror the lifestyle of ordinary British people, reflecting the social decline and distress of the working class during the era of Margaret Thatcher. He earned an international reputation for his oblique approach to social documentary, and for innovative imagery. The Last Resort: Photographs of New Brighton (1986) was Parr’s first project to show a move towards his now distinct personal style: bright colours and vivid images, gaining him the reputation as a renowned satirical photojournalist. Other of Parr’s series include Bad Weather (1982), Common Sense (1995-99), and Signs of the Times (1992). I firmly believe that the photo book is still an underestimated asset in the cultural history of photography. Speaking as a photographer, it is the one vehicle for photography that has influenced, not just me, but many photographers in a very big way. Finally, in this last decade, there has been a strong revival of interest in the photobook.” To my understanding, when Parr shot this book in the 80’s, nobody really seemed to care to have their kids walking around with pants on. But nowadays of course– there is a lot of paranoia about child pedophilia. This is a scene you will never see anymore. My parents are bird watchers so, growing up, I didn’t go to trashy seaside resorts,” reveals Parr, “we went more to look at Waders and Goldfinches. But then my wife got a job in Liverpool, and we bought a house about a mile and a half away from New Brighton. When I discovered it, I got very excited; I was attracted to its litter and energy and I knew then that I would do a project about it.”

This exhibition has already taken place

In the 1980s Parr was inspired by American colour photographers William Eggleston and Stephen Shore, and discarded monochrome for the popping colour photography he is now known for. His serious foray into colour continued his documentation of British life in a new way and his use of flash outdoors captured his subjects in action with crystalline precision. Parr would take the critique of consumerism further by focusing an entire project on it, Common Sense, from 1995 to 1999. He focused on the trivial and absurd realities of consumer culture and projects, often photographing strange objects, and taking tight detail shots as one would do for a magazine shoot. But instead of being classic and beautiful, the objects in Parr’s photographs look strange and almost ridiculous. Their flaws are the focus of many of the photographs. Once again this image sets the mood of the dystopic feel of this sea-side resort– of it being dirty, unhygienic, and overwhelming. New York Private Photo Tours and Street Photography Group Workshops: Join me on a street photography walking workshop around New York City. The Last Resort is an unwavering series of photographs that featured the working-class seaside resort of New Brighton, situated in Merseyside, as the primary subject.

All of the subjects in this shot are well spaced from one another– and I love the vibrancy that the flash brings to the shot– even though it was during the day. Not only that, but the red of the little girl’s shirt makes he pop out and be the main subject in the photograph. In 1987, Parr would move with his wife to Bristol, where he photographed his next project, The Cost of Living, which focused on the middle class as they became wealthier under Thatcher. He captured a variety of middle-class activities including shopping, parties, and events. The Last Resort is a series of forty photographs taken in New Brighton, a beach suburb of Liverpool. Shot with a medium format camera and daylight flash, the photographs are an early example of Parr’s characteristic saturated colour, influenced by the American colour photography of William Eggleston (born 1939) and Garry Winogrand (1928-84). Parr printed eleven images from The Last Resort in a large-format edition of five for his 2002 retrospective at the Barbican Art Gallery, London. New Brighton, Merseyside (29) is one of four works from this special edition owned by Tate.

Beneath the surface, Parr’s photographs are filled with oddness, idiosyncrasy, understanding, and unease. His photographs force us to pay attention to and question the ordinary. Particularly with his critiques on British society, Parr captures everyday moments and objects in a way that make them feel surreal and absurd. An ordinary cup of tea in an ornate teacup looks beautiful and regal. It is photographed in a way to make it appealing and proper, but this forces us to question it at the same time. A plate of food, which would normally be photographed in a pleasing way, is captured in all its ordinariness. “I think the ordinary is a very under-exploited aspect of our lives because it is so familiar.”– Martin Parr. The Non-Conformists I will now try my best to analyze the images in the book — and interpret it according to how I see it. Of course, this isn’t how Martin Parr intended — but I hope these thoughts will be helpful to you.

Anyways– the composition of the photograph is great. The boy is perfectly framed by water– so there are no distracting or ugly overlaps. You also have a nice leading line from the right side of the pier– with people perfectly space apart, legs stretching into the water. The concrete pier and the water frame the boy superbly well. Also the scan above doesn’t do justice (the printed book has a much nicer saturated blue color in the water). This picture is dominated by a rubbish bin attached to a pillar, which is placed in the centre of the composition. The wire mesh bin is overfilled with fish and chip wrappers and soft drink cans and overflowing debris litters the ground. A young couple sits on a bench near the bin, eating chips from Styrofoam plates. The man offers a bite of his meal to their daughter, who turns away, apparently uninterested. Her pushchair is parked on piles of chip wrappers. A second child stands behind the bench eyeing the food. On the far left of the composition, an additional child sits apart from the rest of the group. The picture is cropped so that only part of this figure is visible. The next shot is then a nice change of pace — you now zoom out from the previous shots which were shot closely. Although there are a few shots in the book that I think we could’ve done without– overall the book is quite bullet-proof and solid. It is incredible that Parr was able to finish this book in only 2 years of shooting– he must have been quite prolific in visiting and shooting nearly daily.Thirdly, I enjoy the socio-economic commentary in this book. To my understanding, New Brighton was a mostly working-class area– and as you can see through the pictures, it doesn’t look like the fanciest or prettiest place to go on holiday. So there are certainly connotations of class. But at the same time, a lot of people seem to be having fun and enjoying themselves– regardless if they aren’t in the prettiest beach-side resort. In the image of the younger woman with the baby in the orange spaceship– she looks obviously bored, and even the baby looks like it is trying to escape from this boring ride. When I saw this photograph, I was curious how Parr shot it. He must have been lying on the ground– but how did he take this photo (that seems to look candid) without the attractive young mother noticing? Perhaps she did and didn’t care– but perhaps she didn’t? In the tradition of Tony Ray-Jones, Parr turned his eye to the story of life in Britain, taking striking shots of traditional country life in decline as factories closed and a newer, younger crowd introduced alternative lifestyles. Kristian Martin, Curator of The Great British Seaside, describes Parr as ‘the natural successor’ to Ray-Jones who pioneered non-commercial art photography in the UK. Twenty of his iconic seaside shots from the 1960s are on display in the new exhibition. The next image then sets the scene a little more– showing how dystopic and dirty the beach-side is. You see the ground littered with styrofoam plates, half-eaten french fries (or “chips” as the British call them), and of course the iconic red “Coke” cup on the bottom.