PARR EXCELLENCE

Martin Parr's photographs are widely, and justly, celebrated. But some critics claim to detect a hint of snobbery. The truth is that he was obsessed with people

- Richard Benson

"So, Martin Parr has passed," reads the post on the Instagram account of the techno act The Black Dog. "Got to say I hated his work. It always felt like he was punching down at the working class, mocking his subjects and portraying them as tacky, uncultured, and trapped in grim surroundings."

It seemed a particularly unkind and disagreeable pronouncement in response to the death of the “national treasure” photographer, but it was not unique. Other coverage of Parr’s death featured references to his supposed voyeurism, snobbery, and privileged vantage point, recapping criticisms that had been made throughout his career.

The argument runs that Parr, as a middle-class white man from Epsom photographing working-class people who were often from the North, and in some cases satirising them, was snobbishly contributing to his subjects’ oppression. It’s a valid question to raise, but as a judgement of a highly significant body of work, it is both ignorant and patronising.

Parr himself was anything but snobbish; he was utterly obsessed with people - all people - as well as with photography and photographers. I contributed the text for an exhibition at his Martin Parr Foundation gallery last year, and on the opening night, despite being seriously ill with cancer, he was there encouraging younger artists, and discussing ideas and future projects like a young man of 25. The energy he put into British photography in general was massively appreciated by others in his field, which is one reason you don't find many of them criticising his images.