'We are Martin Parr' captures five decades of iconic British photographer

British photographer Martin Parr's works are displayed at the 'We Are Martin Parr' exhibit in Photography Seoul Museum of Art in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap

From a North Korean toddler wearing a butter-colored hat to a bored-looking couple on a Scandinavian ferry, seemingly indifferent to one another, British photographer Martin Parr (1952-2025) was renowned for capturing the most mundane moments with wit and irony.

"We are Martin Parr," an exhibition opening Thursday at the Photography Seoul Museum of Art, is the first major retrospective in Asia since Parr's death in late 2025.

Organized in collaboration with Magnum Photos and the Martin Parr Foundation, the exhibition encompasses Parr's works spanning five decades since the late 1970s, through about 500 black-and-white and color photographs, as well as 90 photo books.

Born in 1952, Parr became known for documenting everyday life scenes in various places, such as tourist destinations, fast-food restaurants and supermarkets. By photographing people and objects through exaggerated colors and densely layered compositions, he captured familiar moments in unfamiliar ways.

Adding a distinctive edge to his works is his critical yet humorous gaze, whether it be portraying people in Britain and Ireland weathering bad weather or tourists taking photos in pursuit of the local cultural experience while paradoxically destroying what makes up such culture in that process.

"His vibrant color photographs, his irony and his fascination with the ordinary challenged established ideas about documentary photography," Andrea Holzherr, global cultural director for Magnum Photos, said in a press conference in Seoul on Wednesday, held ahead of the exhibition.

"He demonstrated that history is not only found in wars or political events but also in the everyday rituals that define who we are as societies," Holzherr said.

The upcoming exhibition showcases 14 major series that represent Parr, such as "Small World," "Death by Selfie," "Bored Couple" and "The Last Resort."

To mark Parr's first major retrospective in South Korea, the museum said it has brought together one of the biggest collections of photos for his "South Korea" and "North Korea" series.

Parr visited Pyongyang in 1997 as part of a group tour and traveled to South Korea several times from 1998-2007.

His photographs from Pyongyang evoke both a sense of familiarity and unfamiliarity by placing ordinary North Koreans against symbolic backdrops, such as a statue of late North Korean founder Kim Il-sung and Juche Tower.

His works from South Korea, meanwhile, portray the country's rapid economic growth and expanding consumer culture from an outsider's perspective, from a young boy riding a supermarket cart surrounded by stacks of chips and soft drinks and shoppers lining outside Lotte Department Store before opening hours.

Son Hyun-jung, a curator at the museum who took part in organizing the exhibition and had communicated with Parr, recalled how Parr was curious about whether South Korea had changed over the past three decades, noting how they had discussed plans of the photographer taking new photos in Seoul.

"At the end of the artist's gaze, which transforms the ordinary into art by seeing it anew, we will find a reflection of ourselves," said Han Jung-hee, the museum's director, noting how the exhibition has been titled "We are Martin Parr" with that in mind.

The exhibition runs through Oct. 18.