PHOTOGRAPHS
Parr, Martin
England (1952 - )
Dorset (Rhubarb)
1996
Chromogenic color (Fujicolor) print
19 1/2 x 29 1/2 in. (49.5 x 75 cm) image size; 25 x 32 in. (63.5 x 81.3 cm) mount board size; 20 1/8 x 30 in. (51.1 x 76.2 cm) sheet size
Gift of Burt and Jane Berman
FA 2001.210

Dorset (Rhubarb) is part of Parr’s series of “close-up” images; details of people’s appearances—a wristwatch, a grinning mouth—which he depicts in a flaunting and revealing manner. Close ups of food have been a consistent theme as well. Parr explains “food is something I’ve photographed extensively over the last seven or eight years. In a sense, it is a form of social landscape.”

Martin Parr, as a member of the renowned Magnum Photos, has worked extensively in the fashion and advertising industries. His photographs have been shown in The New York Times, and Citizen K in Paris, as well as advertisements for Hewlett Packard. In contrast to his commercial work, Parr has published a number of books, including Common Living, The Last Resort, and Bored Couples, that critique mass tourism and the leisure activities of British lower and middle classes. More information and images on Martin Parr can be found at www.martinparr.com and wwww.magnumphotos.com. -- Label copy for 150 Works of Art, October 1, 2005 to February 26, 2006.