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In 1975, fresh out of art school, Martin Parr found poor footing in the London photography scene, so he moved to the picturesque Yorkshire Pennine mill town of Hebden Bridge. Over a period of five years, he documented the town in photographs, showing in particular the aspects of traditional life that were beginning to decline. Susie Parr, whom he had met in Manchester, joined him in documenting a year in the life of a small Methodist chapel, together with its farming community. Such chapels seemed to encapsulate the region's disappearing way of life. Here Martin Parr found his photographic voice, while together he and Susie assembled a remarkable and touching historic document-now published in book form for the first time. The Non-Conformists takes its title from the Methodist and Baptist chapels that then char - acterized this area of Yorkshire and defined the fiercely independent character of the town. In words and pictures, the Parrs vividly and affectionately document cobbled streets, flat-capped mill workers, hardy gamekeepers, henpecked husbands, and jovial shop owners. The best Parr photographs are interleaved with Susie Parr's detailed background descriptions of the society they observed.
About the author
Martin Parr is an Associate Member of Magnum Photos. His work has appeared in the major magazines and newspapers. He is internationaly regarded as one of the leading British photgraphers and his work is widely shown in Europe and America. In 1991 he worked with the BBC on the television series Signs of the Times.
Summary
Martin Parr’s first major body of work, from the mid- 19 70 s, published in book form for the first time
Additional text
Who knew Parr started his career taking thoughtful black-and-white pictures of small town life in England? "The Non-Conformists" was Parr's first body of work after graduating from art school in 1975. But among the images of sheep grazing, grouse hunting and churchgoing, are glimpses of the humor we now so strongly associate with Parr.--Stacey Baker"The New York Times Magazine" (12/19/2013)
