Common Sense by Martin Parr: Festival Tribute

Martin Parr is back in Bristol from 14 October, with Common Sense showing at The Welcome Building as part of the Bristol Photo Festival. It's a tribute to Parr, who was Artistic Director of the festival's first edition and stayed on its Board until 2025.

Common Sense first appeared in 1999 and is one of Parr's most ambitious projects. It turns his close, saturated, and often humorous gaze towards the details of everyday life: food, fashion, souvenirs, animals, and consumer goods. He shot it with a 35mm camera, a ring flash, and a macro lens, building a visual language of fragments, surfaces, and punchy colours. He also pushed back against the usual way of showing photography, presenting the work as inexpensive colour Xerox prints and designing it to circulate across the world at once. In April 1999, it ran in 41 galleries across five continents — 44 venues in total — and was recognised as the largest simultaneous photography exhibition ever organised.

The show works as a tribute to Parr's long connection to the city. Born in Epsom in 1952, he joined Magnum Photos in 1994, served as its president from 2013 to 2017, and set up the Martin Parr Foundation in 2017. This exhibition brings Common Sense back to Bristol, where he spent years helping shape the festival.

It runs from 14 October to 15 November, open Thursday to Sunday from 12pm to 6pm. You'll find it at The Welcome Building on Avon Street, BS2 0QF.