Martin Parr マーティン・パー

The photography historian Thomas Weski described Martin Parr as a “chronicler of our time.” Indeed, for over four decades Martin Parr has shown us his personal vision of the world, its changes as well as its challenges.
In his series Small World, Parr photographs the average tourist that we all are. However, his aim is not to capture the usual ‘vacation shot’; he is not interested in ‘tourist vacation pictures,’ but in picturing tourism itself. What he focuses his camera on is the gap between our shared mythologies of ‘must see’ tourist spots and their (sometimes rather disappointing) reality. We, the tourists, have magical pictures in our minds of the Acropolis in Athens, the Tower of Pisa, Machu Pichu, Mount Fuji, and so on. We imagine ourselves there, transported by beauty, alone and in awe of the majesty of the place and the uniqueness of the moment. Reality, however, is very different. We are not alone. We have to share these places with hundreds or even thousands of other tourists. We fight for a spot, queue for hours, get what we didn’t order, buy what we do not need, and try to enjoy what we are not really enjoying.

With Small World, Martin Parr presents us with a particularly cruel mirror. His statement on tourism as a form of modern ‘imperialism,’ on the ‘Americanization’ or even ‘Disneyfication’ of the world, is disguised in happy colors and humorous scenes.

Text by Andréa Holzherr

Prior to the festival, Martin Parr will photograph various locations in Kyoto often associated with mass tourism. This latest work will be presented at KYOTOGRAPHIE 2025.