Quotes from Martin Parr

One of the things I regret is that magazines now are so lifestyle-orientated that the opportunity to do bigger projects is gone. This is a serious misjudgment on the part of magazine editors.

The thing about tourism is that the reality of a place is quite different from the mythology of it.

We live in a difficult but inspiring world, and there is so much out there that I want to record.

I am a big fan of Jim Jarmusch and I do love big screen documentaries.

There are elements of irony in my work, of course.

Over the years, I have perfected the art of dancing and photographing at the same time: it's a great double act. If you're dancing, you are joining in. If you stand there rigid, you are not in the flow of things.

In New York, you have the street; in the U.K., we have the beach. I end up being like a migrating bird, being attracted to it.

Fashion pictures show people looking glamorous. Travel pictures show a place looking at its best, nothing to do with the reality. In the cookery pages, the food always looks amazing, right? Most of the pictures we consume are propaganda.

We live in a homogenized world, where it's hard to get excited when everything is slick and professional. The interesting things are the dull things.

In the '70s, in Britain, if you were going to do serious photography, you were obliged to work in black-and-white. Color was the palette of commercial photography and snapshot photography.

I like to keep in touch with younger photographers. It's important that a younger generation comes up and questions the assumptions made by old farts like me.

Personally, I don't take holidays; I go on trips. My idea of relaxing is taking a trip that isn't commissioned. I'll work just as hard, but without that nagging pressure of fulfilling a commission. Now that's what I call a holiday.

When I am in London, all I do is mix with other people in the arts.

I avoid Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, and if I need to communicate with someone, I email direct.

Places change all the time, and the type of people who live there change.

Magnum photographers were meant to go out as a crusade ... to places like famine and war and ... I went out and went round the corner to the local supermarket because this to me is the front line.

Sepia in particular tends to make everything look a bit romantic and almost sentimental, hence the fact that it remains such a popular choice for wedding photographs.

Sometimes you feel uncomfortable taking a photograph, but that's all part of the job.

I don't like being flattered. It doesn't suit my English sensibilities. Remember, we are the great country of understatement.

Photography is the simplest thing in the world, but it is incredibly complicated to make it really work.

I would urge everyone to start looking at the world in a different way. Spend some time looking at everyday objects, at their design, their shape, their individual characteristics. Think ahead and imagine their significance.

The knack is to find your own inspiration, and take it on a journey to create work that is personal and revealing.

I think the ordinary is a very under-exploited aspect of our lives because it is so familiar.

Photography is Art and Art is Photography.