We’re welcoming the internationally acclaimed photographer Martin Parr to Exeter for a special live interview with the writer Paddy Magrane. Come along, they’re talking about his photos and you can ask questions too. You’ll know his photographs. His style is playful, distinctive, and at times satirical. Capturing the quirky aspects of ordinary life, the people inhabiting his photos feel like exaggerated versions of themselves, whether they are birdwatchers, football fans, smokers, day-trippers, or families eating in cafes.

The Last Resort was a set of images that brought him wider attention, capturing the working-class resort of New Brighton on Merseyside in the 1980s; children dribbling ice cream, a young woman at the counter of a shabby cafe, and people eating a picnic on a litter strewn esplanade. These compelling photographs became famous, composed like paintings but affectionately capturing the scruffy charm of characters, who look ordinary and absurd at the same time.

Parr’s work oozes across culture including a Blur album cover, a solo exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, and dozens of books. He’s a chronicler of our age.

Image: New Brighton, England. From ‘The Last Resort’. 1983–85. © Martin Parr / Magnum Photos

Venue: Auditorium, Exeter Phoenix

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