EXHIBITION · Tell Tale Mirrors · Martin Parr · CPF

EXHIBITION · Tell Tale Mirrors · Martin Parr · CPF

The festival’s first ever highlight exhibition at The Royal Theatre, features the legendary British Magnum photographer, Martin Parr. While highlighting Martin Parr’s extensive career, the exhibition draws its attention to his elaborate works on leisure, tourism and beach life.

At the Royal Theatre visitors can look forward to delving into both his iconic series Life’s a Beach and Small World, as well as lesser known works from Everybody Dance Now featuring recent and older works from his early years documenting British lifestyle. 

The exhibition playfully interacts with the spectacular settings of the theatre and spans several rooms including the amazing Balcony Foyer facing Kongens Nytorv. People are also invited to dive into a selection of Parr’s many visionary and humoristic photo books in a bespoke lounge book room created for the exhibition. 

 Known for his distinctive vision, this acclaimed photographer captures the subtleties and complexities of public behaviour and how we present ourselves. His extensive photographic series offer a carefully critical examination of our collective self-image.

Using his anthropological perspective and sharp wit, Martin Parr has captured the human experience in photographs for nearly 60 years, since taking his first picture at age 13. His images function as revealing mirrors, exposing our unconscious biases and reflecting the frameworks of our society and culture. Ultimately, Parr’s work encourages us to laugh at these constructs and at ourselves.

With this year’s theme ‘Fremkaldelser/Into the light’, Martin Parr is most relevant as he reveals how we as humans present ourselves in the public eye, while skillfully bringing these ever-topical issues to our attention.

About the artist

Martin Parr is one of the best-known documentary photographers of his generation. With over 100 books of his own published, and another 30 edited by Parr, his photographic legacy is already established. Parr also acts as a curator and editor. He has curated two photography festivals, Arles in 2004 and Brighton Biennial in 2010. Parr has been a member of the Magnum agency since 1994 and was President from 2013 – 2017. Parr’s work has been collected by many of the leading museums, from the Tate, the Pompidou and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Martin Parr established the Martin Parr Foundation in 2017.

Martin Parr is also featured with exhibitions in the public space on Kongens Nytorv and along the inner city harbour and will be present at the festival events for the opening day and weekend.

Opening Hours

12-18 June 11 am – 20 pm

Buy entrance ticket to CPF|Gamle Scene

NB The entrance ticket gives access to exhibitions at The Royal Theatre and free events on the day of your visit. When buying tickets online you get 10% discount on the standard ticket

Photo credit: Spain, Benidorm. 1997 © Martin Parr / Magnum Photos