Parr Quotes & Sayings

I am a big fan of Jim Jarmusch, and I do love big screen documentaries. — Martin Parr

Sharing with just your friends doesn't protect your privacy. I know the people at Facebook will disagree and argue that users can control what is shared with whom. But this is simply an illusion that makes us feel better about all the sharing we have done and are about to do. — Ben Parr

We are drowning in images. Photography is used as a propaganda tool, which serves to sell products and ideas. I use the same approach to show aspects of reality. — Martin Parr

I see things going on before my eyes and I photograph them as they are, without trying to change them. I don't warn people beforehand. That's why I'm a chronicler. I speak about us and I speak about myself. — Martin Parr

As we travel around Britain, I am convinced most of us cannot really appreciate what we are seeing. We take too much for granted, because it is all so familiar. — Martin Parr

Just let me wait a little while longer,
Under your window in the quite snow.
Let me stand here and shiver, I'll be stronger
If I can see your light before I go.
All through the weeks I've tried to keep my balance.
Leaves fell, then rain, then shadows, I fell too.
Easy restraint is not among my talents,
Fall turned to Winter and I came to you.
Kissed by the snow I contemplate your face.
Oh, do not hide it in your pillow yet!
Warm rooms would never lure me from this place,
If only I could see your silhouette.
Turn on your light, my sun, my summer love.
Zero degrees down here, July above. — Polly Shulman

I love curating, because I'm lucky and privileged that I have a platform and I can share my discoveries with other people. — Martin Parr

You have to take a lot of bad pictures. Dont' be afraid to take bad pictures ... You have to take a lot of bad pictures in order to know when you've got a good one. — 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. — Martin Parr

No matter how many times you save the world, it always manages to get back in jeopardy again. — Bob Parr

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. — Martin Parr

The more PR buzzwords you include in your press release, the less likely I am to write you up — Ben Parr

The world's most successful entrepreneurs play hard, but they work even harder. — Ben Parr

I do read many of the photography magazines from the U.K. and abroad. — Martin Parr

If development proceeds at its present pace, there will come a day in the lifetime of my students when people will not understand why this ever was called the Pajaro Valley. May it go in the public record that some of the damage was done when the good liberals, Todd, Oscar, Parr, and Lowell, held majority control of the city council.
-Frank Bardacke (April, 1991).
Good Liberals and Great Blue Herons — Frank Bardacke

You can easily take photographs at a wedding - no one would question it. But funerals are different. — Martin Parr

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

If you can't build relationships from nothing, you will fail. You must have that drive. — Ben Parr

The truth of the matter is that we've all got cracks in our spirits, and we have to remember they're only there because we need them ... Otherwise, how could God's grace filter in deep enough to give us the joy and peace we're all searching for in this world. It couldn't, plain and simple. — Delia Parr

Trending topics helped make Twitter a more relevant metric of what the world was talking about at any given moment. Google has worked for years in the space, most notably with Google Trends and Hot Searches, but Google+ offers the search giant the ability to see what is truly trending in real time. — Ben Parr

Modern technology has taken the angst out of achieving the perfect shot. For me, the only thing that counts is the idea behind the image: what you want to see and what you're trying to say. The idea is crucial. You have to think of something you want to say and expand upon it. — Martin Parr

What can we learn from the battle between data and design? What can we learn from the relationship between Google and Apple? Clearly no one school of thought is right: Apple and Google are both wildly successful and profitable companies that changed the world. — Ben Parr

The big reason why we don't have space colonies and regular trips to the moon is that flying into outer space is just plain 'hard.' The business of safely transporting people off the Earth is a costly affair that requires a lot of technology. — Ben Parr

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

Google is famous for making the tiniest changes to pixel locations based on the data it accrues through its tests. Google will always choose a spartan webpage that converts over a beautiful page that doesn't have the data to back it up. — Ben Parr

Work harder, get closer and be passionate about what you photograph. — Martin Parr

Photography is, by its nature, exploitative. It's whether you use this process with a sense of responsibility or not. I feel that I do so. My conscience is clear. — Martin Parr

Dictators are interesting, no? — Martin Parr

My biggest television weakness is 'Dragons' Den.' — Martin Parr

The reality is that the fewer children a congregation has, the more important an outreach ministry for children and families like Vacation Bible School is. — Dr. Steve R. Parr

Building a successful company (or living a happy life, for that matter) is not about embracing someone else's philosophy, but staying true to your own beliefs about the world and learning from the mistakes you make along the way. — Ben Parr

I pride myself in being an aficionado of the British seaside. Throughout my career, I have visited and worked in many of the famous British resorts, from Great Yarmouth to Largs. — Martin Parr

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

I get up early and open my emails, write cheques, and answer the phone; whatever needs to be done. — Martin Parr

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. — Martin Parr

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

Unless it hurts, unless there's some vulnerability there, I don't think you're going to get good photographs. — Martin Parr

You can't shoot in sepia, so converting into black and white and then into brown makes everything feel less real. — Martin Parr

We pulled the car up at the end of a long line of cars and truck. — Allison Parr

My very first acting gig was in a movie for Russ Parr. He did this movie called 'Love for Sale,' and that was my first role in any film. — Terrence J

Don't let failure deter you; use it as a stepping-stone and an educational experience towards making your mark on the world. — Ben Parr

As artists get wealthier and more famous, often their work gets worse ... I'm fascinated by the decline of artists. I suspect I'll be in decline myself. It's a fact of life. — Martin Parr

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

The danger is, you have a formula and you just repeat it. — Martin Parr

Sound policy is never at variance with substantial justice. — Samuel Parr

Choosing sepia is all to do with trying to make the image look romantic and idealistic. It's sort of a soft version of propaganda. — Martin Parr

All photography is propaganda. — Martin Parr

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. — Martin Parr

If you photograph for a long time, you get to understand such things as body language. I often do not look at people I photograph, especially afterwards. Also when I want a photo, I become somewhat fearless, and this helps a lot. There will always be someone who objects to being photographed, and when this happens you move on. — Martin Parr

I am away so much, so I rarely see live TV, but I use iPlayer to catch programmes. — Martin Parr

The trouble with Hollywood films is that they always have a pleasant ending. — Martin Parr

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. — Martin Parr

There was more data transmitted over the Internet in 2010 than the entire history of the Internet through 2009. — Ben Parr

Relationships are the key element to Press & PR — Ben Parr

From the moment the tourist enters the site, everyone has to be photographed in front of every feature of note ... The photographic record of the visit has almost destroyed the very notion of actually looking. — Martin Parr

You only get hurt that badly when you're doing something that matters.Something impossible.Taking a risk.Investing yourself.And ball's worth it,the rush you get, the exhilaration... — Allison Parr

I just go out and try to make sense of the world around me. — Martin Parr

Everyone is a photographer now, remember. That's the great thing about photography. — Martin Parr

I never think of photographs as being individual. Always as a group. — Martin Parr

Lord Jesus, I pray thee, grant me grace, that I may never set my heart on the things of this, but that all worldly and carnal affections may utterly die and be mortified in me. Grant me above all things that I may rest in thee, and finally quiet and pacify my heart in thee. — Catherine Parr

Felix!" Lucien called out.
The valet popped his head into Lucien's bedchamber. "My lord?"
"Change of plans. Set out my finest black breeches, black hessians and a black silk shirt. Also, do I still have a black domino mask?"
Felix's eyebrows rose. "Are we dressing you for a specific occasion, my lord? I was under the impression that abductions were not among your interests." The valet's eyes were cool, but Lucien caught the glimmer of amusement there.
Lucien sometimes forgot that what were considered secrets upstairs were sometimes common knowledge downstairs. No doubt he referred to Miss Emily Parr's adventure some months before.
"Abductions, when done properly, can turn out quite satisfactory. But fear not, Felix, tonight I'm off to the Garden."

-Lucien & Felix. His Wicked Seduction — Lauren Smith

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. — Martin Parr

The greatest tragedy is a life lived and died without knowing Father God intimately and experiencing His love personally. — Bob Parr

Google has placed its faith in data, while Apple worships the power of design. This dichotomy made the two companies complementary. Apple would ship the phones and computers, while Google would provide Maps, Search, YouTube, and other web tools that made the devices more useful. — Ben Parr

I always take photographs when I attend a funeral. Most people there know who I am and expect me to be there with my camera. — Martin Parr

You must pray to God for forgiveness because I can give you none — Alison Weir

I would characterize Moonlit Nights as a mix between Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child's 'The Relic' and 'Congo' by Michael Crichton. If those books had a baby and that baby was a werewolf then that would be my book! — Jacob Parr

You can't experience the Father's embrace until you first embrace your earthly father's experience. — Bob Parr

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. — Martin Parr

To find by experience that friendships are mortal, is the hard but inevitable lot of fallible and imperfect men. — Samuel Parr

Part of the role of photography is to exaggerate, and that is an aspect that I have to puncture. I do that by showing the world as I really find it. — Martin Parr

I looked around at what my colleagues were doing, and asked myself, 'What relationship has it with what's going on?' I found there was a great distortion of contemporary life. Photographers were interested only in certain things. A visually interesting place, people who were either very rich or very poor, and nostalgia. — Martin Parr

Start with local press first. Start with people you know. Don't pitch every journalist. — Ben Parr

More and more, the things we do in real life will end up as Facebook posts. And while we may be consoled by the fact that most of this stuff is being posted just to our friends, it only takes one friend to share that information with his or her friends to start a viral chain. — Ben Parr

If you go to the supermarket and buy a package of food and look at the photo on the front, the food never looks like that inside, does it? That is a fundamental lie we are sold every day. — Martin Parr

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

The excess of the voluptuary, like the austerities of the recluse, triumphs in the suffrage of perverted reason. — Samuel Parr

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. — Martin Parr

My profile is bigger in Europe than it is in the U.K. — Martin Parr

Starting a company is a cause, not a job. Once it becomes a job, that's when you lose — Ben Parr

Filming is always a challenge because I'm not used to it. But I approach it head-on. I'm not technically brilliant, but it's the spirit that counts. — Martin Parr

Most of us, when we go out with a camera in our own country, try to find exotic subject matter to photograph. — Martin Parr

Taking photos is a form of collecting. — Martin Parr

You can read a lot about a country by looking at its beaches: across cultures, the beach is that rare public space in which all absurdities and quirky national behaviors can be found, — Martin Parr

When I fly British Airways, I can't help but read the free Daily Mail, which makes me glad I am leaving the country. — Martin Parr

When a mother takes pictures of her children on the beach, she doesn't take herself for an artist; she does it for love, which is an excellent reason, from my point of view. — Martin Parr

You can't learn passion, either you've got it or you haven't. — Martin Parr

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

I am kept awake by the list of possibilities for shooting more photos and deciding what I must prioritise next. — Martin Parr

Wealthy people have not disappeared, they are just not so willing to show off their wealth. — Martin Parr

With photography, I like to create a fiction out of reality. I try and do this by taking society's natural prejudice and giving this a twist. — Martin Parr

A sceptical young man one day conversing with the celebrated Dr. Parr, observed that he would believe nothing which he could not understand. "Then, young man, your creed will be the shortest of any man's I know." — Arthur Helps

Difficult situations require compassion, level-headedness & the empathy to see issues from somebody else's perspective. — Ben Parr

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

By default, I am a travel photographer. I work on a combination of commissions and personal projects that take me around the world. — Martin Parr

I accept that all photography is voyeuristic and exploitative, and obviously I live with my own guilt and conscience. It's part of the test and I don't have a problem with it. — Martin Parr

My father was an obsessive bird-watcher. The genes of observation passed down. — Martin Parr

When I visited Vietnam for Oxfam, the thing that really struck me was how the local farmers had to prepare to evacuate or climb to their mezzanines with their valuable family possessions. — Martin Parr

They keep creating new ways to celebrate mediocrity. — Bob Parr

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. — Martin Parr