Top 40 Martin Parr Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “Tourism is the biggest industry in the world.”

— Martin Parr

Featured in: Travel Quotes

2. “Photography is the simplest thing in the world, but it is incredibly complicated to make it really work.”

— Martin Parr

3. “You can’t learn passion, either you’ve got it or you haven’t.”

— Martin Parr

4. “All photography is propaganda.”

— Martin Parr

5. “The thing about tourism is that the reality of a place is quite different from the mythology of it.”

— Martin Parr

6. “Criticism is hypocrisy; society is hypocrisy. I’m a tourist. I’m a consumer. I do the things that I photograph and can be criticized of.”

— Martin Parr

7. “We are drowning in images. Photography is used as a propaganda tool, which serves to sell products and ideas. I use the same approach to show aspects of reality.”

— Martin Parr

8. “I think the ordinary is a very under-exploited aspect of our lives because it is so familiar.”

— Martin Parr

9. “I avoid Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, and if I need to communicate with someone, I email direct.”

— Martin Parr

10. “I try to photograph my own and society’s hypocrisy.”

— Martin Parr

11. “Wealthy people have not disappeared, they are just not so willing to show off their wealth.”

— Martin Parr

12. “Everyone is a photographer now, remember. That’s the great thing about photography.”

— Martin Parr

13. “The knack is to find your own inspiration and take it on a journey to create work that is personal and revealing.”

— Martin Parr

14. “Part of the role of photography is to exaggerate, and that is an aspect that I have to puncture. I do that by showing the world as I really find it.”

— Martin Parr

15. “Taking photos is a form of collecting.”

— Martin Parr

16. “My black-and-white work is more of a celebration and the color work became more of a critique of society.”

— Martin Parr

17. “Color was the palette of commercial photography and snapshot photography.”

— Martin Parr

18. “I accept that all photography is voyeuristic and exploitative, and obviously I live with my own guilt and conscience. It’s part of the test and I don’t have a problem with it.”

— Martin Parr

19. “With photography, I like to create a fiction out of reality. I try and do this by taking society’s natural prejudice and giving this a twist.”

— Martin Parr

20. “Choosing sepia is all to do with trying to make the image look romantic and idealistic. It’s sort of a soft version of propaganda.”

— Martin Parr

21. “I am what I photograph.”

— Martin Parr

22. “When a mother takes pictures of her children on the beach, she doesn’t take herself for an artist; she does it for love, which is an excellent reason, from my point of view.”

— Martin Parr

23. “Nobody thinks about technical issues anymore because cameras or camera phones take care of that automatically. On the other hand, you still have the option of controlling every technical aspect. It’s the most accessible, democratic medium available in the world.”

— Martin Parr

24. “Unless it hurts, unless there’s some vulnerability there, I don’t think you’re going to get good photographs.”

— Martin Parr

25. “I never think of photographs as being individual. Always as a group.”

— Martin Parr

26. “I always take photographs when I attend a funeral. Most people there know who I am and expect me to be there with my camera.”

— Martin Parr

27. “The easy bit is picking up a camera and pointing and shooting. But then you have to decide what it is you’re trying to say and express.”

— Martin Parr

28. “The danger is, you have a formula and you just repeat it.”

— Martin Parr

29. “I am not a huge follower of music and tend to like one CD and play it to death, usually when I am washing up.”

— Martin Parr

30. “I toyed with the notion of being an actor, and am so glad that this whim did not go any further.”

— Martin Parr

31. “I see things going on before my eyes and I photograph them as they are, without trying to change them. I don’t warn people beforehand. That’s why I’m a chronicler. I speak about us and I speak about myself.”

— Martin Parr

32. “There are two parts to the process: taking the picture and finding ways of using it.”

— Martin Parr

33. “Work harder, get closer and be passionate about what you photograph.”

— Martin Parr

34. “Most of the pictures we consume are propaganda.”

— Martin Parr

35. “I have been photographing people dancing for 20 or 30 years now, and I think I will eventually do a book of dancing photos.”

— Martin Parr

36. “For those aspiring to make a living from travel photography, it’s a sad fact that the boring shots are the shots that are going to make you money.”

— Martin Parr

37. “Dictators are interesting, no?”

— Martin Parr

38. “I am not as cross about Thatcher now as I was in the ’80s. Begrudgingly, I can see that some of her policies helped modernise Britain.”

— Martin Parr

39. “I get up early and open my emails, write cheques, and answer the phone; whatever needs to be done.”

— Martin Parr

40. “Photography’s central role is to be the absolute medium of the day. It is fantastic that there is no longer any technical intimidation.”

— Martin Parr

41. “Filming is always a challenge because I’m not used to it. But I approach it head-on. I’m not technically brilliant, but it’s the spirit that counts.”

— Martin Parr

42. “Most of the photographs people take with their cameraphones are of little value in terms of documentary.”

— Martin Parr

43. “I am kept awake by the list of possibilities for shooting more photos and deciding what I must prioritise next.”

— Martin Parr

44. “I am away so much, so I rarely see live TV, but I use iPlayer to catch programmes.”

— Martin Parr

45. “I am a big fan of Jim Jarmusch, and I do love big screen documentaries.”

— Martin Parr

46. “When I first started learning how to take photographs, you had to spend the first six months figuring out what an f-stop was. Now you just go and take pictures.”

— Martin Parr