10th April 2019

A Martin Parr Day

Exhibition: Only Human by Martin Parr @National Portrait Gallery

The exhibition was really amazing! I would say it is my favourite exhibition I have seen this year so far. I have always been a huge fan of Martin Parr. I love how his unique vision to capture the humour in our ordinary lives. In the exhibition, there are several rooms separating his work in different themes and topics. There are the celebrities room, dance room, sports room, brexit room, etc. I really like the way it is curated, very logical and gives the viewers a sense of what the work is about without having to explain. Out of all the rooms, I am most inspired by the dancing room because of its set design. I was surprised by the disco ball hanging on the ceiling as I walked in and saw colourful dots moving on the pictures of people dancing. It made me wanna dance! It is such a simple but effective idea, making the experience more interactive and wholesome. Another thing I found really interesting was that there is literally a cafe in the middle of the exhibition. What's special about it was that it is decorated in a very "British" way, a down to earth, not boogie at all kinda British way though, as if it was a scene from one of Martin's photos.

Talk: Inspirational Series: Martin Parr @Sarabande Foundation

Below are some notes on what I learned from the talk.

To become any kind of artist, you need to have an obsession with what you are doing.
The only way to improve your photography skills is to go out and explore.
When taking pictures, engage with the community and observe small details.
If you wanna make your pictures look good in bad weathers, use flash.
A lot of good photos are made by accidents, such as photobombing by strangers.
Photography is subjective, just as the history of it is constantly changing.
Don't photograph churches and sunsets, they never change.
It's okay to photograph cliches as a starting point.
Find humour in the ordinary things around you.
Find your relationship to the world.
Life is never good or bad.
It's not easy to photograph people now, sometimes they get pissed.
What makes a good photo: contradiction, tension, contrasting elements.
Social media could be a good platform for people with interest in photography.

Part 3

Part 3

Reflection

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