I Am Martin Parr (12A)

2024 UK

Dir. Lee Shulman

+ Teddy Gray’s Sweet Factory

a short film made by Martin Parr in 2011

Although Martin Parr moved to Bristol in 1987, he studied in Manchester and lived in Hebden Bridge and then Wallasey as he was establishing himself as significant photographer with a unique style. His work has held up a sometimes tender, sometimes critical and always mischievous mirror to our times, forcing us to take a hard look at how consumer society has shaped our lives.

Though he’s now celebrated, collected and exhibited worldwide, Parr’s early work did not find an easy public and was highly criticised for trivialising the working class. I Am Martin Parr is the definitive portrait of an extraordinary photographer who revolutionised contemporary photography by inventing a political, humanist and accessible photographic language.

Our bonus film is one of a series of shorts made by Martin Parr in 2011 about lives of people in the Black Country. Teddy Gray’s Sweet Factory is a portrait of a family company who do things as they’ve always done them – without the use of computers, fax machines or any of that new-fangled nonsense. You will love the shot of nostalgia this lovely film brings. We are showing the film with kind permission from Multistory – a community arts organisation based in Sandwell and who collaborated with Parr in making the series of shorts.

Tickets £5 (£1 child/student) available on the door or in advance from the Buxton Opera House box-office