Today we studied Martin Parr’s photobook Common Sense, which “takes a candid look at our everyday excess and social stereotypes to reveal our connection to global consumer culture.” [https://www.magnumphotos.com/arts-culture/society-arts-culture/martin-parr-common-sense/]

Princeton University Library holds 56 of Martin Parr’s 63 photobooks (most found in the art and architecture library), beginning with The Last Resort: Photographs of New Brighton, with text by Ian Walker (Wallasy, Merseyside: Promenade Press, 1986) and most recently Real Food (London: Phaidon Press Limited, 2016). Many are released with Dewi Lewis Publishing, founded by his friend Dewi Lewis in 1994 and the 2014 recipient of the PHotoEspana’s prize for Outstanding Publishing House of the Year. https://www.dewilewis.com/pages/about-us

**See above right, what does an author do when he is asked to autograph a book filled with images, without writing on his art? Parr answered this with the white bubble added near the beginning of the book.

Common Sense (1999) was published in an unbelievably large edition of 12,000. A problem with glue in the binding left 600 with pages stuck together and unsaleable. The rest of the edition finally sold out this year.

The Martin Parr Foundation is a sponsor of PhotoBook Bristol, scheduled to return in the summer of 2018. In the meantime, the Martin Parr Foundation will open a new hub of activities at Paintworks in Bristol, including a gallery and shop in October 2017. Details at: http://www.martinparrfoundation.org

Martin Parr, Common Sense (Stockport, Eng.: Dewi Lewis, 1999). (SAPH): Photography TR654.P378 1999. The cover image shows a portion of a piggy-bank shaped like a globe.

Martin Parr and Gerry Badger, The Photobook: a History (London: Phaidon Press, 2004- ) SAPH Photography reference Oversize TR650 .P377 2004q

Rare Book School I-45. The Photographic Book since 1844 http://rarebookschool.org/faculty/illustration/richard-ovenden/