Serpentine South Gallery 23 Jul — 3 Aug 1986 Free

An exhibition of 49 of Martin Parr’s photographs, The Last Resort.

The title of the exhibition, The Last Resort, referred to the Liverpool suburb of New Brighton, which was struggling to keep its Riviera aspirations alive.

The series of photographs was taken between 1983 and 1985.

Scenes of relaxation and recreation were at startling odds with their surroundings. This contrast between the lived-out dream and physical reality is often central to Parr’s photographs, and this exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery, along with a publication of the series produced the same year, was to prove a key moment in both the development of the artist’s career and of documentary photography in Britain.

 

 

 

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