Exhibition
MARTIN PARR
GLOBAL WARNING
From 30 January to 24 May 2026
Jeu de Paume – Paris
For the past fifty years, across every continent, in colour and in black and white, Martin Parr has photographed the absurdities of the contemporary world, painting a caustic picture of the planet’s malfunctions: consumer excess, the ravages of globalized tourism, the imbalance between North and South, the explosion of car culture, addictions to technology, and complex relationships to other living beings.
Through a variety of series produced since the late 1970s, the exhibition revisits Martin Parr’s images in a time of widespread global disorder. From beaches to vacant lots, from supermarkets to shopping centres, from carparks to tourist sites, Parr’s world epicts the frantic race for consumerism that may be read as a warning about our contemporary lifestyles. His body of work, which often provokes laughter and a smile, also provides food for thought. Today, with hindsight, its irony can be inscribed in the tradition of a certain English satirical approach where humour is used to convey a critical viewpoint. Without falling into extremes and without ever truly absolving himself from the issues he addresses, Parr pursues a documentary oeuvre whose humour and appeal cannot completely mask the seriousness and questions that underpin it.
Through some of Parr’s iconic series and images, the exhibition provides an opportunity to revisit the originality of such a position and the warning message that Parr, with his own distinctive brand of humour, has been attempting to share for the past fifty years. Featuring some one hundred and eighty photographs, this exhibition, produced by the Jeu de Paume, is accompanied by a book co-published with Phaidon, with essays on Martin Parr’s work by several academics and researchers, primarily from the human sciences.
Curator : Quentin Bajac