Martin Parr. Objects

Martin Parr has become well known for his collections of photography books and postcards, but he is also a jackdaw collector of photographic and other themed objects. Some collections have already achieved notoriety for instance his collection of Saddam Hussein watches (wrist watches featuring photographs of Saddam Hussein, highly popular in Iraq prior to his downfall), and his collection of photographic trays, both exhibited at the 2004 Rencontres d Arles festival in southern France but until now they have not been published in book form.This comprehensive account of eccentric objects collected by Parr over 25 years includes his memorabilia of political leaders and movements (Lenin, Margaret Thatcher and the Miners strike, for example), other mythologized characters (Osama bin Laden and the Spice Girls), his collections of photographic trays and kitsch wallpaper, objects commemorating the M1 motorway, 9/11, and the Sputnik mission. Ranging between the banal and poignant, they are always hilarious.