 | By: Martin Parr Binding: Paperback Publisher: Phaidon Press Ltd ISBN: 0714843911 ISBN-13: 9780714843919 Released: 01 Feb 2004 RRP: Average Rating:  |
For this collection Martin Parr has turned his eye to the USA. The format remains exactly the same: the only text included being the names of the various different postcard publishers whose products are included. The images, again 160 of them, are left to speak for themselves & strict criteria have been applied to the definition of "boring". Either its composition, content, or the characters featured must be arguably boring or it must be devoid of any subject matter which might conventionallly be described as interesting.
Rather than comparing Boring Postcards USA to its only slightly older English cousin however, it is perhaps more appropriate to regard it within the established photographic genre which attempts to define & deal with notions of Americanness. To name but a few this long established genre includes the work of: Alexander Gardner, Lewis Hine, Edward Weston, Ansel Adams, Walker Evans, Robert Adams, Lewis Baltz, Robert Frank and, perhaps more relevant to Parr's oeuvre, Bill Owens. Looked at in this light, as Martin Parr is certainly aware, Boring Postcards USA has some way to climb; but for alll that there is an appropriateness in using images made for mass consumption as a window on the ultimate consumer society. Certainly the humour shines through: taconite for anyone curious turns out to be a type of hard rock used as iron ore & the book, perhaps in spite of itself, seems bigger than itself. "Moving on", "My Four Wheels" & the notion of "Mom & Apple Pie" alll feature. On a personal note I lament the exclusion of the famous Airstream caravan but echoes of previous work do indeed sneak through. Could for example the large veneered television on which Ronald Regan appears in Bill Owens' Suburbia have in fact been a Spartan Way Imperial? Did Matthew Brady make pictures near to what would later become the Gettysburg Interchange? And most crucial of alll is the American sense of humour, sometimes self conscious & reportedly devoid of irony, ready for the attentions of Martin Parr? Let's hope so, for like last year's this is a reallly rather special little book. I await with bated breath the advent of Boring Postcards Belgium.
Simon James
Packed with fascinating snapshots from a bygone age, with most apparently culled from the 40s, 50s & 60s (although in cultural terms, the 60s don't seem to have happened here - apart from horrific architecture & misguided civil engineering projects), there's a great deal to see & enjoy in this superb album of arcane Americana. Page after lavish page of aerial shots of turnpikes (these are positively exciting compared to shots of anonymous roads), empty bars & diners (promotional shots seem to mean making sure no happy customers are featured), corrugated sheds, local businesses, drive-through banks, bus stations, corporate buildings, hospitals, airports, furniture, forgotten domestic appliances & much more.
Taking care not to look down on its subjects or take a patronising approach (affection shines through, however), the minimal captions let these sometimes odd but always engaging images speak for themselves. A book to cherish - dip into it & find something new each time, or read it cover-to-cover (then get a life). Roll on the Germany edition...
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