Acclaimed documentary photographer Martin Parr dies aged 73

Renowned photographer Martin Parr has died at the age of 73, his foundation has announced.

Parr, who was one of the best-known documentary photographers of his time, died on Saturday at his home in Bristol, the Martin Parr Foundation said.

An Instagram post said: “It is with great sadness that we announce that Martin Parr (1952-2025) died yesterday at home in Bristol.

“He is survived by his wife Susie, his daughter Ellen, his sister Vivien and his grandson George. The family ask for privacy at this time.

“The Martin Parr Foundation and Magnum Photos will work together to preserve and share Martin’s legacy. More information on this will follow in due course.

“Martin will be greatly missed.”

Parr was born in 1952 in Epsom, Surrey and had cited his grandfather as an influence on his work.

The photographer, who was known for capturing the reality of British life, rose to prominence with his vibrant 1980s collection The Last Resort, which showed people at the seaside town of New Brighton in Merseyside.

Among his other exhibitions was Only Human: Martin Parr, which was staged at the National Portrait Gallery in London in 2019 and captured the “social climate in the aftermath of the EU referendum” of June 2016.

He also teamed up with photographer JJ Waller this year for Beside The Sea, a photo exhibition where more than 65 large-scale images of vibrant seaside life were pasted onto the roofs of bus shelters in Brighton.

Parr curated the Arles photography festival in 2004, the Brighton Photo Biennial in 2010, and Barbican exhibition Strange And Familiar in 2016, which “captured the social, cultural and political identity of the UK” from the 1930s onwards.

Parr won an award in 2016 recognising his significant contribution in the field of visual arts, after a nomination by artist Grayson Perry.

At the time, Perry said: “He is such a phenomenon, not just in the body of work that he’s done, which I love and has been hugely influential on me, but also just as a champion of photography as an art form.

“He is a major player in the whole culture of photography.”

Parr established a dedicated space for the Martin Parr Foundation in 2017.

The foundation preserves photographic works and supports “emerging, established and overlooked photographers who have made and continue to make work focused on Britain and Ireland”, according to its website.

The photographer reshot his most famous work, with the aid of a mobile scooter, when he returned to New Brighton in 2024 documentary film I Am Martin Parr.

Speaking about his relationship to his homeland, he told the Guardian in February: “There’s many things I dislike about Britain. Then there’s all these other things – the hobbies, the fairs, the agricultural shows, the beaches, Radio 4, a cup of tea – those I love.

“Photographing it all is a form of therapy for me. It’s defined my life.”

Parr was made a CBE in the 2021 Queen’s birthday honours for services to photography.

He had been diagnosed with myeloma, a type of blood cancer, the same year.