A playful conversation between two important photographic archives, the book — and now the exhibition — consists of pairs. For each work by Martin Parr, there is a paired image from the Anonymous Project’s collection of found amateur photographs, taken between the 1950s and 80s.
Martin Parr’s archive of 50,000 photographs captures stereotypes and society with an unmistakable eye for the quirks of ordinary life. “It’s very difficult to take a good photograph of ordinary, everyday life. That’s what I like to try and do, it’s what motivates me to get out and about with my camera. There’s no guarantee that you’ll get a good picture, but there’s always a chance you’ll be pleasantly surprised.” Parr explained in an interview about Déjà View. “The book is pure, simple and direct. For me, it’s everything I love most.”
The Anonymous Project was founded in 2017 by film director and artist Lee Shulman to gather and conserve color slides taken by amateur photographers around the world from the late 1930s to the mid-1980s. The collection now comprises over 800,000 Kodachrome slides. “Our combined pictures speak to what photography is and what it can contribute: a simple, happy moment, shared. This book is full of optimism, humour, love and humanity.” Shulman said in the same interview, with Parr and Dimitri Beck, Director of Photography at Polka.
‘We are very excited to present this collaboration as our inaugural exhibition at Cromwell Place. It champions the iconic work of Martin Parr, one of the most loved UK photographers, while bringing attention to the skills of the ‘unknown photographer,’ and asking us to question what makes a great photograph — a thought-provoking and relevant question. Of course, it also contextualizes and sheds light on the visual vocabulary of Martin Parr’s work — one of the great photographers of our time.’ - says Francesca Pinto, Global Gallery Director at Magnum Photos.
MARTIN PARR
Martin Parr is one of the best-known documentary photographers of his generation. With over 100 books of his own published, and another 30 edited by Parr, his photographic legacy is already established. Parr established the Martin Parr Foundation in 2017. In 2019 the National Portrait Gallery in London held a major exhibition of Parr’s work titled Only Human.
LEE SHULMAN
Born in London, UK, Lee Shulman is a graduate of the University of Westminster with a Bachelor of Arts. He is a multiple award-winning film director and artist working in advertising and music videos. Now living and working in Paris he founded The Anonymous Project as an arts project in 2017 which has gone on to become one of the most important and unique collections of amateur photography slides in the world. His last book Déjà View which pairs his work alongside the work of photographer Martin Parr came out at the end of last year to critical acclaim and will be the subject of various exhibitions in 2022.
