ANALYSIS OF MARTIN PARR'S PHOTO (ESSAY)
The photo I was given to analyse was a photo from the series 'the last resort' by Martin Parr. The photo reminded me a lot of a photo exhibition I went to see called 'the great British sea side' at the Maritime museum in Greenwich. When I first looked at the photo I found it very interesting as it looks kind of like it was taken at a sea side as the background has a sea and a peer and around the people in the foreground there are lots of buckets and spades. However, the question why are they laying there? immediately came to my mind. I was very curious why the people in the foreground decided to lay there and not on a sandy beach with lots of people near by so the child in the photo could maybe find someone to play with. I was also curious about why they chose to lay there as the area was surrounded with rubbish and didn't look very clean. I think the location adds a lot of mystery to the photo and possibly makes the audience of the photo think that the two people could maybe be hiding fro someone, or make them think what else is surrounding the photo because there could be lots more people and a really nice are behind the photographer. Another question that immediately came to my mind when I was looking at the photograph was who the man in the mid ground is. The photo looks kind of happy in the foreground and then the man in the mid ground kind of makes the mood of the photo change as he's wearing very dark colours and makes the photo look king of depressing much like the background does. This makes me think that this photo may have been set up and the man may have been put there on purpose. The man also looks like he may be looking for someone making me think that the two people in the foreground may know him and be hiding from him, the dark colours the man is wearing also makes him look more scary possibly making the audience also think the two people in the foreground may be scared of him. just looking at the photo for the first time I also immediately thought that it was part of a photo series as it looked very similar to the photographers photos in ' the great British sea side'.
One thing I find very interesting in the photo is the relationship between the adult and child in the foreground, the relationship makes me think the photographer was really trying to represent different types of relationships within this photograph and series. The two people seem kind of like they're mother and daughter but the mum doesn't seem very concerned about her child as her child looks like she's trying to communicate with her but the mum doesn't seem to be communicating back. The daughter also looks like she's kind of concerned about her mum as her facial expressions look kind of shocked.The people in the foreground are also the people you are immediately drawn to making you question their relationship the most. it also makes you question why there is only one child in the photon multiple adults. There are adults in the foreground, mid ground and on the peer in the background making the child Stand out the most in the photo and emphasises the contrast between the two age groups. The adult in the mid ground looks kind of mysterious and the people in the foreground look kind of like they're hiding from something so they may be hiding from him. The area also seems very quiet also maybe making the people want to hide as there may be no one around to protect them. The big tractor in the background also looks kind of abstract as you can't really tell what it is contrasting against the rest of the sort of naturalistic image. The tractor also looks very out of place and blocks a lot of the background also adding more mystery to the photo.
As the people are at this area and it looks very lonely from the photograph it makes me think that maybe there are more people behind the photographer and the area may to be as excluded as it looks from the photograph. This makes me think about who the photographer is and if they may be related to the main subjects in the photograph. Even if the photographer isn't related to the subjects in the photo I still think he would have more of a connection and relationship to them then we as a audience would have. This is because he was actually there with them at one point and has seen them in real life and in 3D whereas the audience has only seen the subjects in 2D and is not shown the rest of there surroundings so our opinion of the subjects may be very different to the photographers opinion of them. The photographer would also have had the ability to use his other senses like hearing and smelling which could also change his opinion of the subjects. The photo was also taken around 1983 making me think about how the subjects lives could have changed and how their lives are now. I think the photographer could have possibly blocked out some of the area around the photo on purpose to manipulate our opinion of the subjects within the photo and make us think a lot differently to him. I also think the photographer made this photo really effective because the photo clearly shows the contrast between negative and positivity. I also think the photo clearly represents how single parent relationships are as happy as a two parent relationship. I think this is particularly represented through the lighting as there is a warm light around the mother and daughter and then the rest of the photo has a dark light around it. The rest of the photo is also dark whereas the mother and daughter are surrounded by lots of colour. I think this represents how family relationships in most peoples lives are the most important relationships and I think this will really stand out and be remembered by the audience of the photo.
The way the photo is taken is also very clever as the time of the day and the sunlight makes the photo look more interesting as there are lots of shadows adding to the photo. The photograph being in colour also makes it more interesting as it allows the audience to see the contrast between the colourful foreground and then the more depressing dark coloured background. When the photographer took this photo I think he was trying to capture the topic ritual in particular.As going to the sea side isn't something people do in everyday life but if you go there and saw the subjects in the photo you wouldn't think anything of it but when they are in a photo you are made very aware of the subjects in the photo and their relationship.
One thing I find very interesting in the photo is the relationship between the adult and child in the foreground, the relationship makes me think the photographer was really trying to represent different types of relationships within this photograph and series. The two people seem kind of like they're mother and daughter but the mum doesn't seem very concerned about her child as her child looks like she's trying to communicate with her but the mum doesn't seem to be communicating back. The daughter also looks like she's kind of concerned about her mum as her facial expressions look kind of shocked.The people in the foreground are also the people you are immediately drawn to making you question their relationship the most. it also makes you question why there is only one child in the photon multiple adults. There are adults in the foreground, mid ground and on the peer in the background making the child Stand out the most in the photo and emphasises the contrast between the two age groups. The adult in the mid ground looks kind of mysterious and the people in the foreground look kind of like they're hiding from something so they may be hiding from him. The area also seems very quiet also maybe making the people want to hide as there may be no one around to protect them. The big tractor in the background also looks kind of abstract as you can't really tell what it is contrasting against the rest of the sort of naturalistic image. The tractor also looks very out of place and blocks a lot of the background also adding more mystery to the photo.
As the people are at this area and it looks very lonely from the photograph it makes me think that maybe there are more people behind the photographer and the area may to be as excluded as it looks from the photograph. This makes me think about who the photographer is and if they may be related to the main subjects in the photograph. Even if the photographer isn't related to the subjects in the photo I still think he would have more of a connection and relationship to them then we as a audience would have. This is because he was actually there with them at one point and has seen them in real life and in 3D whereas the audience has only seen the subjects in 2D and is not shown the rest of there surroundings so our opinion of the subjects may be very different to the photographers opinion of them. The photographer would also have had the ability to use his other senses like hearing and smelling which could also change his opinion of the subjects. The photo was also taken around 1983 making me think about how the subjects lives could have changed and how their lives are now. I think the photographer could have possibly blocked out some of the area around the photo on purpose to manipulate our opinion of the subjects within the photo and make us think a lot differently to him. I also think the photographer made this photo really effective because the photo clearly shows the contrast between negative and positivity. I also think the photo clearly represents how single parent relationships are as happy as a two parent relationship. I think this is particularly represented through the lighting as there is a warm light around the mother and daughter and then the rest of the photo has a dark light around it. The rest of the photo is also dark whereas the mother and daughter are surrounded by lots of colour. I think this represents how family relationships in most peoples lives are the most important relationships and I think this will really stand out and be remembered by the audience of the photo.
The way the photo is taken is also very clever as the time of the day and the sunlight makes the photo look more interesting as there are lots of shadows adding to the photo. The photograph being in colour also makes it more interesting as it allows the audience to see the contrast between the colourful foreground and then the more depressing dark coloured background. When the photographer took this photo I think he was trying to capture the topic ritual in particular.As going to the sea side isn't something people do in everyday life but if you go there and saw the subjects in the photo you wouldn't think anything of it but when they are in a photo you are made very aware of the subjects in the photo and their relationship.