Postcards - Martin Parr

This book is the comprehensive account of Martin Parrs unique postcard collection. Featuring 650 cards, selected by Parr from his collection of over 20,000 cards built over 30 years, its contents are presented in the manner of a postcard album.A highly entertaining journey into the themes of Parrworld, it is also a serious study of postcard history through the 20th century. Presented in 20 chronologically sequenced chapters, the book opens with British postcards from the beginning of the century,made to mark notable local news events such as car crashes,murders, lightning strikes and acts of suffragette vandalism. It continues through the elaborate story-telling postcards ofWGothard,whose Barnsley studio commemorated mining and shipping disasters; a collection on incidents ofWorldWar I, from scenes of bombing to celebrations ofwar heroes; novelty portrait postcards from the 1920s and 1930s; bizarre hand-coloured cards from the 1930s; and the holiday postcards of John Hinde that so influenced Parrs own photographic style.The book ends in Boring Postcards territory with a selection of late 20th century postcards promoting newmotorways, airports and shops.