"Luxury" by Martin Parr

I've always been a fan of the punchy color wide angled shots of Parr. His new photo book, Luxury, published by Boot, is filled with more amazing pictures. Culling images shot at events from around the world, he edits down the work to crystallize and point to the absurd moments of wealth and the so called high life.

The fashion designer Paul Smith writes in his introduction to the book:

"In Martin's case, it's about noticing things; about looking at the way people are and how we live, describing human life as it is rather than as we wish it was. He doesn't add glamour, he see through it. Other photographers like Annie Liebovitz or Mario Testino offer us a perfect vision of glamour - and there's room in the world for that - but what Martin does is show us the gap between how we are and how we like to think we are. Which i think is more interesting."

Shooting at polo matches, World's Cups, fashion weeks, my favorite images are from artfairs, where he finds his version of a doppelgänger for an artwork and its viewer.

I don't think this world exists quite like this any longer, but then again when looking back at Slim Aarons that world seems simliar yet miles away.