Martin Parr, one of the most influential British documentary photographers of his generation, has died at age 73 at his residence in Bristol.

The Martin Parr Foundation announced his death on Sunday, December 7, 2025, stating that he passed away on Saturday. No specific details about the circumstances of his death were disclosed, though Parr had previously revealed a diagnosis of myeloma, a form of blood cancer.​

Parr is survived by his wife Susie, his daughter Ellen, his sister Vivien, and his grandson George. The Martin Parr Foundation and Magnum Photos, the international photography cooperative of which Parr had been a member since 1994, stated they would work together to preserve and promote his legacy, according to BBC.​

Born in 1952 in Epsom, Surrey, Parr developed a passion for photography at age 14, inspired by his grandfather George Parr, an amateur photographer. He studied photography at Manchester Polytechnic in the early 1970s, where he met fellow photographers including Daniel Meadows and Brian Griffin. Early in his career, he worked as a traveling photographer at Butlin's holiday resort, an experience that shaped his artistic perspective.​

Parr gained widespread recognition in the 1980s with his groundbreaking color photography, which challenged the convention that serious photographers worked exclusively in black and white, Deadline reported.

His 1986 project "The Last Resort" documented working-class holiday visitors at New Brighton, a deteriorating seaside destination in Merseyside. The vivid, flash-lit images featuring sunburned beachgoers and cluttered beaches sparked controversy, with some critics viewing his work as harsh. However, many recognized the series as a defining representation of Thatcher-era Britain.​

Throughout his career spanning more than five decades, Parr produced numerous acclaimed works, including "The Cost of Living" and "Small World," which examined middle-class life, mass tourism, and consumer culture. He photographed subjects globally, from North Korea to Albania, Japan to Russia, though his most celebrated work focused on candid representations of Britain.

Parr authored over 100 books and participated in more than 600 exhibitions worldwide. He founded the Martin Parr Foundation in 2014, which opened its Bristol premises in 2017. He also served as president of Magnum Photos from 2013 to 2017.​

Parr received numerous honors throughout his life, including the Royal Photographic Society's Centenary Award and the Sony World Photography Award for Outstanding Contribution to Photography in 2017. His distinctive approach to color photography fundamentally transformed documentary photography and influenced generations of photographers who followed his pioneering work, as per Huxley Parlour.

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