Trafalgar Square and the Martin Parr Exhibition

I went up to London today to see the Martin Parr exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery - as I was gifted membership for both Gavin and I by a friend, I went close to lunch time and Gavin was able to join me - it is free for members. The exhibition is outstanding, I certainly want to see it again before it closes. 

Martin Parr is a middle class man who unashamedly photographs the distinctive class divide in the UK, in a witty and satirical way, and manages to get away with it. His photos explode with colour and he has managed to photograph many celebrities as well as ordinary people who represent what it is to be British - fat ladies on the beach, women stuffing their faces with food, drunken revellers, the establishment - a very comprehensive social documentary of life. He is considered one of the most prolific photographers of our time. 

I tried to upload photos of the exhibition to Flickr but it does not seem to be working today - I find Flickr a very slow and unreliable site. I therefore have added some extras - my first extra I have titled Abnormal Beauty and it's a homage to the photos of Martin Dawe. The second extra of Martin Parr's work will be recognised by many as the indents used by BBC1 (he was commissioned to shoot that series for them), the third extra is typical of his work, brightly coloured and capturing a social event. The fourth extra is very current for what is happening in British politics right now. He has a body of work on Brexit, and this image shows the British looking out to sea towards Europe with the red flag representing the danger that lies ahead with Brexit.

The good thing about inviting Gavin to join me at the exhibition is that he treated me to lunch at the restaurant upstairs which has fantastic views over London ( and as one journalist wrote, the best view of Nelson's buns!) I treated myself to Martin Parr's book which has been released to tie in with the exhibition, it has all the photos in there and I can look at them again and again.

My blip is of chalk drawers in Trafalgar Square.