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Parr, Martin : Life's A Beach

Xavier Barral/Aperture Foundation, New York City, NY, 2012

ISBN 1597112240

First Edition / First Printing. As New in No Dust Jacket, As Issued. Unpaginated. Retrospective collection of color photographs, presented as an Artist Book. One of Martin Parr's finest achievements. Limited Slipcased Edition of 1000 numbered and signed copies. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions, particularly the regular trade edition, which is different from and inferior to this Artist Book. The Limited Edition is now rare. A brilliant production by Martin Parr and Xavier Barral: Oversize-volume format. Pale yellow cloth boards with titles printed on pink paper that is pasted in front. The book design is that of a full-fledged photo album, complete with black string-tied spine, tissue-paper overlay on each page, and scrapbook hinges upon each photograph within. Photographs by Martin Parr. Apart from each photograph's caption, there is no text. Cardboard Slipcase with titles on pink paper pasted on one side. Printed by Xavier Barral to the highest standards. In publisher's original plastic wrappers. Without DJ, as issued. Presents, in a Limited Edition format, Martin Parr's "Life's A Beach". One of the prolific photographer's best books. "In the United Kingdom, one is never more than seventy-five miles away from the coast. With this much shoreline, it's not surprising that there is a strong British tradition of photography by the seaside. American photographers may have given birth to street photography. But according to Martin Parr, 'in the UK, we have the beach'. There, people can relax, be themselves, and show off all those traces of mildly eccentric British behavior. Parr has been photographing this subject for many decades, documenting all aspects of the tradition. This obsession has led Parr to photograph beaches across the world: Photos of beach-goers on far-flung shores, including Argentina, Brazil, China, Spain, Italy, Latvia, Japan, the United States, Mexico, Thailand, among others. Immersing us in the rituals and traditions associated with beach life the world over" (Publisher's blurb). Martin Parr's breakthrough was "The Last Resort" (1986), which depicts the seaside resort of New Brighton. He has photographed many other subjects since then. But he keeps coming back, inescapably, to his true subject because it is his original inspiration: In case you hadn't noticed, the saturated colors of Parr's entire body of work, now identified with him/is his "trademark" as our colorist-photographer, derive from the beach, in all its sunburned intensity. "The British approach to sunburn was simple: Get out there and upgrade yesterday's patchy burns into something of more uniform severity" (Jonathan Lee on New Brighton). An absolute "must-have" title for Martin Parr collectors. This copy is one of the Limited Slipcased Edition, indicated/serial-numbered as such on both the Cardboard Slipcase and the Back Limitation Page. It is very prominently, neatly, and beautifully signed in green pen-marker in front by Martin Parr. This title is an indispensable Parr collection and a great photography book. This is one of few copies of the Limited Edition still available online, is still in the publisher's original plastic wrappers, and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. Please note: Copies available online command as much as $700. This is offered at the Aperture Foundation's original list price (which the publisher itself no longer does, having raised its price to $450). As such, it is an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare signed copy thus. 98 color plates. The most influential and most important British photographer of our time. A fine collectible copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER MARTIN PARR TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 1597112240.

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