Foam pays tribute to the legacy of British photographer Martin Parr with the exhibition Very Modern and Rather Ugly. Bringing together a selection of his most iconic works, the exhibition celebrates Parr’s unmistakable way of seeing, witty societal observations and enduring fascination with the role of photography in everyday life. This marks Parr’s first solo museum exhibition in the Netherlands in more than twenty years. In commemoration of his recent passing, Foam will present a tribute to the legacy of Martin Parr.
Across a career spanning more than five decades, Martin Parr (1952–2025) became one of the most distinctive and influential figures in contemporary documentary photography. Recognised for his saturated colours, close-up compositions, harsh flash and incisive, ironic eye, he documented the everyday rituals, behaviours, and habits of modern life. From leisure and tourism to consumerism and social class, his work exposes the humour and absurdity of ordinary existence.
Parr is celebrated for his ability to make the familiar look strange and the boring interesting. Through his vibrant visual language, he transformed seemingly banal scenes into incisive reflections on modern society. Central to his life’s work were themes of consumption, cultural identity, tourism and class, which he explored over decades across both national and international contexts His distinctive approach to subject matter, long-term projects, and immediately recognisable photographic style have made him a lasting point of reference for younger generations of photographers. Parr did not simply document contemporary life, he reshaped how we see it.
Central to the exhibition is Parr’s iconic series Common Sense (1999), an installation of 270 colour-saturated close-up photographs that zoom in on global consumer culture – from fast food and tourist sites to personal decoration and social stereotypes. The series Autoportrait (2002) brings together three decades of portraits of Martin Parr – taken by street photographers, studio photographers, and photo booths all over the world – through which he sought to highlight the many different shapes, forms and traditions of global portrait photography. Visitors will also be able to discover The Non-Conformists (mid-1970s), his early documentation of rural English communities in black and white, and his breakthrough series The Last Resort (1983-85), which marks Parr’s turn to colour and focus on the British seaside. In addition to the photographic series, the exhibition will feature a reading room in which visitors can immerse themselves in Parr’s numerous photobook publications.
