Tourists on the march
Martin Parr uses his camera to capture the absurd moments of global tourism.
All of us, in some way, have taken part in or been exposed to the “march of stupidity,” as fiction writer Don Delillo once referred to modern-day tourism. Magnum photographer Martin Parr has humorously photographed people being photographed or photographing others in his book Small World. With sharp wit, Parr captures that which is absurd about the adventure-tourism industry that has grown from the ease and accessibility of air travel, starting in the 1950s. These brightly colored photographs are a playful look, mostly at Western tourists, as they strive to be part of something larger than themselves, yet often resort to consumerism in an attempt to understand their surroundings.
