Fig. 1. New Brighton – 1985 – Last Resort 23 – Martin Parr.
The image I have chosen for this assignment is entitled ‘The Last Resort 23′ by Martin Parr; Parr is a highly successful british photographer who has achieved great things, including; being Professor of Photography at the University of Wales 2004 to 2012, the President of Magnum Photos 2013 – 2017, awarded the Sony World Award for Outstanding Contribution to Photography in 2017 and he is currently working on an exhibition to open in April 2019. (Parr s.d)
I first came across this image after seeing it on the front cover of Gerry Badgers’ book ‘The Genius of Photography’ and immediately was drawn to it, after seeking approval from Tate.org to use this image I began to examine it further. (Cope, 2018)
What initially drew me to this was the 1980’s look, as this was when I was a teenager remembering going on my holidays and queuing up to purchase my ice cream from the little beachfront shop, being served by a local teenage girl working during the holiday season to earn a little pocket money to see her through the season.
I was also intrigued by the blatant staring of the adolescent boy towards the chest of the pretty young girl who is serving; his facial expression communicates what all boys of that age are thinking.
So how does the image translate?
A teenage girl standing side on looking directly at the camera in a stern manner, she has her hand on her hip and leaning on the serving counter. She is dressed in black accompanied by black eye makeup and is wearing a blue and white striped gown. To the left of the image is a table that has plastic tubs on; some of them have ice cream cones in. Behind the counter are a group of customers, both boys and girls of all ages, some of which are holding ice creams and waiting to pay. One boy in particular stands out; he his holding three cones in his left hand with money in his right and he is staring blatantly, open mouthed, at chest of the girl who is having her picture taken; this coupled with an image of an older boy who is looking at the younger one and laughing.
The signs of the image are typical of life by the sea in the mid 80’s, the selling of ice cream cones from behind a blue and white wooden counter from a sparsely decorated building, young girls dressed in black with permed hair and black eye makeup, boys with their tops off, with tanned arms and white chests, girls and boys waiting to be served, coupled with thinking that this is typical of an 80’s beach frontage ice cream building, is what Parr was trying to show, (see Singer 2015), however, by capturing the expression on the boys face, this says to me, ‘adolescent boys will always be lusting over attractive young girls; what must be in his thoughts’.
In AnOther Magazine, Parr states that the story behind the series was:
“My parents are bird watchers so, growing up, I didn’t go to trashy seaside resorts, we went more to look at Waders and Goldfinches. But then my wife got a job in Liverpool, and we bought a house about a mile and a half away from New Brighton. When I discovered it, I got very excited; I was attracted to its litter and energy and I knew then that I would do a project about it. At the time, when I first showed it in Liverpool, no one batted an eyelid because everyone knew what New Brighton was like. And then when I showed them in London [at The Serpentine Gallery], there was all kinds of responses; people were somewhat shocked.” (Singer, 2015)
I have attempted to find critiques of this image in particular, but it has been difficult, the one I did find was from Eric Kim who states:
“Then appears one of the strongest (and most popular) photos from the book– of a young woman behind the ice cream counter, staring back at Parr disapprovingly. You feel how overwhelmed she must feel– with all these kids scrambling in the background trying to get some ice cream — in the midst of the blazing hot sun.
While the woman is looking disapprovingly at Parr– turned around funny and hand on her hip, you have the two boys on the left– staring straight at her chest (like many young boys do). (Kim, 2014)
The others are from critiques from the series ‘The Last Resort’:
David Lee is quoted as saying:
“(Parr) has habitually discovered visitors at their worst, greedily eating and drinking junk food and discarding containers and wrappers with an abandon likely to send a liberal conscience into paroxysms of sanctimony. Our historic working class, normally dealt with generosity by documentary photographers, becomes a sitting duck for a more sophisticated audience. They appear fat, simple, styleless, tediously conformist and unable to assert any individual identity. They wear cheap flashy clothes and in true conservative fashion are resigned to their meagre lot. Only babies and children survive ridicule and it is their inclusion in many pictures which gives Parr’s acerbic vision of hopelessness its poetic touch.” (Selwyn-Holmes, 2012)
Robert Morris was quoted as saying:
“This is a clammy, claustrophobic nightmare world where people lie knee-deep in chip papers, swim in polluted black ponds, and stare at a bleak horizon of urban dereliction.” (Selwyn-Holmes, 2012)
Elizabeth Mohoney wrote in 1000 Artworks to see before you die:
“At the time, Martin Parr’s series of photographs from New Brighton, a dilapidated seaside spot on the Wirral, were seen as condescending. But now they look humorously engaged and fond, bringing British working-class nooks and crannies into view, and reminding us how unusual that was (and is) in art photography.” (Kim 2014)
Furthermore Val Williams wrote:
“So what was it about The Last Resort that so terrified and disgusted the people who wrote about it? There is some litter, admittedly, but it’s never knee-deep, and there are some fat people, but they’re not gargantuan and they’re not in the majority. There are crews of babies who seem to be having a good time, eating, drinking, even smiling, and a lot of very pretty women taking part in beauty competitions, dancing, sunbathing, talking to other women. There are families who may well be suffering under Thatcherism, but they’re still managing to have a good day out.” (Kim, 2014).
What I take from looking at the series is a reminder of what it was like in the 80’s to visit a seaside location, the litter on the floor, the overcrowded bins, people everywhere, numerous shops selling ice cream, the arguments; but most all; enjoyable times.
Taking it back to the picture, this image is in the style of documentary colour photography, the harsh lighting adds to the aesthetics; singularly, does it tell a story? Yes, the look, is of a seaside location in the 80’s, however, does it tell the story that Parr wanted to; on its own, no, but as a collection, yes. For me this image on its own is more about how young boys behave when they are around older girls.
I think that Parr has been either lucky or clever, he has still captured the essence of a seaside location in the eighties but has added a twist by capturing the boy staring at the girl’s chest giving the image a different connotation. (952 words)
Reflection.
Part four does not focus on taking images but on how we read them; by understand the fundamentals, this should assist me when taking my own.
Demonstration of Visual Skills, Context.
Project one gets you to look the composition of an image and attempt to understand what it is trying to say; for this I have analysed it well by drawing on my own life experiences when reflecting on the meaning.
Project two asks to select an image from a newspaper and identify parts of it; for this I have again analysed my selected image well and picked out the points that I feel are what the advertising agency want you to focus on.
In my assignment I have continued to analyse it incorporating all the elements that make up an image.
I have drawn out a mind map inserting areas to look at so I did not forget what I wanted to say, during research I found it hard to find critiques of just this image but found some for the series which I have included.
References
Cope, P. (2018) Re: Image – The Last Resort, Martin Parr. [Email sent to Tate Images, 20th June 2018]
Kim, E (2014) Street Photography Book review “The Last Resort” by Martin Parr. At: http://erickimphotography.com/blog/2014/01/20/street-photography-book-review-the-last-resort-by-martin-parr/ (Accessed 11 July 2018)
Parr. M (s.d) Martin Parr. At: https://www.martinparr.com/cv/ (Accessed on 11 July 2018)
Selwyn-Holmes, A, (2012), The Last Resort, Martin Parr. At: https://iconicphotos.wordpress.com/2012/02/27/the-last-resort-martin-parr/ (Accessed 11 July 2018)
Singer, O (2015), Martin Parr on his Infamous Photo Series, The Last Resort. At: http://www.anothermag.com/art-photography/8073/martin-parrs-last-resort (accessed 10 July 2018)
List of Illustrations
Figure 1. Parr, Martin. (1985) New Brighton – 1985 [photograph] At: http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/parr-the-last-resort-23-p78702
Learning Log for BA(hons) in Photography 