“Photography is perhaps the most democratic form of human expression, second only to dance,” says Martin Parr and he clearly knows. The photographer’s latest book, ‘Everybody Dance Now’ is a collation, spanning 35 years, of people dancing.
See more of Parr's photographs from the book
Parr’s uncanny knack of recording the incidental and making it seem quite monumental is put to brilliant effect on the subject. From gay nightclubs in Brighton, via a Jewish wedding in Finchley, north London to The Gambia, he’s captured the moments when people throw caution to the wind, their hands in the air and start moving to music.
It’s rarely a very gainly, dignified sight – more often than not humorous – but noone can argue that that the feelgood factor isn’t visible on every face in every shot. Even though you can’t hear the music there’s something infectious about the unabashed joy and, seeing photograph after photograph of people united in silly expressions and gangling limbs, the message is loud and clear that the good nature of humanity is irrepressible – when the right song comes on, of course.
Rocket Gallery will have an exhibition of Martin Parr's rarest, oldest and most iconic photographs, taken from books spanning the length of his career, opening on November 11th.
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One to watch: Chiara Lionello’s practice finds beauty in simple gesturesThe Milan-based designer and architect works across multiple disciplines to create objects and spaces that are shaped by experiences and memories
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Saint Laurent's Anthony Vaccarello curates four rare Charlotte Perriand reissuesThese lesser-seen Charlotte Perriand furniture designs are reissued in a limited edition and on display at Paris' Galerie Patrick Seguin (until 22 November 2025)
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Viewers are cast as voyeurs in Tai Shani’s crimson-hued London exhibitionBritish artist Tai Shani creates mystical other worlds through sculpture, performance and film. Step inside at Gathering
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Nadia Lee Cohen and Martin Parr find the joy in 1990s BritainFamed photographer Parr and Essex-born visual artist Nadia Lee Cohen follow the life of babysitter Julie in a new photo book
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‘Life is strange and life is funny’: a new film goes inside the world of Martin Parr‘I Am Martin Parr’, directed by Lee Shulman, makes the much-loved photographer the subject
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Martin Parr on chronicling modern passions and Düsseldorf’s hobby-gardenersThe British photographer is the subject of his most comprehensive retrospective to date at NRW-Forum, which includes a new series of portraits of local allotment gardens created especially for the exhibition
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Keep rollin’: Martin Parr, Ron Arad and Paul Smith talk bikes for Brooks’ 150th birthday -
Martin Parr’s witty portrayal of British domestic life in the 1990s opens at Beetles & Huxley
