Martin Parr CBE is one of Britain’s most celebrated photographers, whose studies of social class have included the 1986 publication The Last Resort: Photographs of New Brighton.
Over three summers he photographed working-class people in the seaside resort of New Brighton. Studies of other holidaymakers were to follow. Mallorca was a location. Now 73 and commissioned by the Mallorca footwear company Camper, he is on the island once again.
He doesn’t recall exactly when it was he first photographed the British in Mallorca, but he remembers having taken photos as they were getting off planes and having photographed them again when they were getting back on the planes.
Between 1987 and 1994 he travelled widely for his study of mass tourism. Small World was published in 1995. Palma was one of the places where it was exhibited.
Of Mallorca, he says that it is a beautiful island full of tourists like Benidorm.
“Magalluf is like Benidorm on a small scale, but I think Benidorm is better. I like Benidorm, it has beautiful beaches and the Spanish go there more than anyone else despite the reputation of the British and the Germans.
He believes that the British like Mallorca because it is “cheap” and because the climate is “good”. He has not had time to visit the beaches. “I’m not a travel agent. But Magalluf has a beach too, right?”
He has in fact been taking photos on beaches since he was 18. One of his numerous photobooks, Life’s A Beach, is a collection of these. “The photos we take define us. They speak about our relationship with the world.” And his relationship is colourful, humorous, satirical and with a touch of kitsch.
