Our favourite photo
A
pparently it was musician
and composer Frank Zappa
who once declared, ‘so many
books, so little time’, and
despite the arrival of eReaders and the
internet our passion for the printed pageshows no signs of abating. In fact, our
love of photography books, in particular,
is now so great that a festival dedicated
to the subject is being hosted by the
Martin Parr Foundation and The Royal
Photographic Society (19-20 October).We’ve taken the opportunity to study
our shelves and pick our favourite
photography titles, and we’ve asked
some carefully selected individuals –
including Parr himself – to do the same.
Read on and enjoy.Martin Parr’s
favourite photo books
BOP 2019
The inaugural BOP festival will take
place on 19 and 20 October. Entry
to the festival is free, but there will
also be a series of artist talks which
are ticketed (£5 per talk, £3 for
MPF and RPS members).
Bringing together a range of
photobook publishers from across
the UK and Europe, the festival
is intended as an opportunity for
photographers to find new books
directly from the publishers
and artists, as well as meet the
photographers behind the volumes.
The AP team will also be there with
a stall, so come and say hello.
For more information, see
martinparrfoundation.org.MARTIN PARR is one of Britain’s
best-known photographers. He is
also one of the country’s leading
exponents and collectors of the
humble photo book. In 2017, he
gifted his extensive collection of
books to the Tate, but he remains
a leading authority on the subject.
This month, in collaboration with
the nearby Royal Photographic
Society (RPS), the Martin Parr
Foundation in Bristol will be
hosting a new festival dedicated to
photography books (BOP 2019).
In celebration of both the event
and our 135th anniversary special
edition, we asked Martin to
choose some of his favourite
books of the past few decades.
Here is his selection.The Pillar
Stephen Gill
Nobody Books, 2019
The latest book from the
irrepressible Stephen Gill
may be his best book ever.
He erects a pillar near his
home in rural Sweden and sets
a camera so every bird that
lands on it triggers a new photo.
The crazy and wonderful
shapes these birds create are
almost beyond words.N e w Yo r k
William Klein
éditions du Seuil, 1956
This was probably the most
influential book of the last
century as Klein almost
single-handedly reinvented
photography language with
this radical book. The grainy
stream of consciousness that
he established could be seen to
have ripple effects all over the
world as his pupils made his
imagery into their own.Miguel Calderon
Miguel Calderón
Turner, Madrid, 2007
Vernacular books have
become increasingly important
these days as people realise
their innocence and integrity
and the results are very
compelling. This is a good
example, where Miguel was
given a box of photos of his
grandfather who was out with
a different woman every night
in hedonistic Acapulco in
the 196 0 s.Pass it On, Peng
Yangjun and
Chen Jiaojiao
Shang Xia, 2011
This wonderful box of goodies
has many photographs as
memories, but also has a
collection of small toys and
other souvenirs which can
be seen as evocative. This
collection demonstrates
very well how books can now
become objects to cherish
as well as a traditional book.FAV O U R I T E B O O K S
Martin Parr is a
leading exponent of
photography books© GETT Y IMAGES