Martin Parr at Walsall New Art Gallery

I went along to the pre-view evening last night. I thought I'd be in for treat and I was not disappointed. For the past four years Parr has been roaming the 'Black Country' that eclectic undefined area on our doorstep. Concentrating on the people and their way of life he has produced a fascinating exy and book to go with it, worth every penny of the £30 asking price. Martin was wandering amongst the visitors signing books, yes including my copy, and generally answering questions and chatting. It was not really possible to look at the images in depth but that's not a problem as the exy is on until early Jan 2015.  It opens to the public today the 4th but don't forget the gallery is closed on Mondays.

There is a vogue at the moment for this type of work to be in mono, go and take more than a passing look at these and I think you'll agree that these colour images would loose a lot in mono. This is straightforward honest social photography done by a master in the genre, no Photoshop tricks or false looking HDR here.

If it's just a copy of one or two images that you want Martin has authorised 10x8 prints of over 200 images to go on sale at £12 each! These are displayed on one wall, will have to go and take a good look as there are a lot that are not in the book.


Tony Middleton