'WE'RE ALL TOO RICH,' SAYS PHOTO LEGEND MARTIN PARR

British documentary photographer Martin Parr says the world has never been more in need of satire like that in his images because many people are too wealthy and their lifestyle is unsustainable.

- STORY: ALICE HACKMAN /AFP

British documentary photographer Martin Parr.

“The state we're all in is appalling,” said the 73-year-old, known for his humorous snapshots of bronzed beachgoers and selfie-snapping holidaymakers.

“We're all too rich. We're consuming all these things in the world,’ he said, referring to tourists increasingly jumping on planes and mobbing European cities like Venice or Rome.

“And we can’t. It’s unsustainable. This joke about going to net zero [carbon emissions], it's never going to happen,” he said in Paris on a visit to promote his autobiography.

Parr's latest book, a collection of photographs together with his wry commentary, is called Utterly Lazy And Inattentive, after a French teacher's damning school report when he was 14.

It charts his journey from son of a birdwatching father to professional photographer with a sharp eye for mundane oddities.