The Last Resort was given a decidedly mixed reception when published in 1986, as Parr, and this work in particular, were perceived to encapsulate an especially contentious issue in the photographic debate of the period and British photography’s reaction to the so-called Thatcher Years. From 1983 to 1985, Parr made frequent trips to New Brighton, producing the work that defined his career and which we can enjoy in this book. The summers of both 1983 and 1984 were unusually hot, so New Brighton drew unusually large crowds on weekends and Bank Holidays, ensuring that the resort was bursting at the seams and therefore at its liveliest. And inevitably, at its tackiest, strewn with litter and under severe pressure from the hungry hordes looking to feed and amuse their kids. This was food and drink to Parr.

Importantly for British and European photography, the book presents Martin Parr discovering both a persuasively contemporary mode of photography and a way of looking at the world that is clinically detached, sceptical to a degree, sharply humorous, yet humanistically engaged. - Gerry Badger

Published by André Frère

30.5 x 24.5 cm
88 pages
2021