Luxury is a compilation of works created by Martin Parr between 2003 and 2009 whilst visiting a range of high profile and wealthy social occasions such as horse racing at Ascot, Art Basel Miami Beach or Sotheby’s auctions in Dubai. The images use richly saturated colours and adopt a close up technique that cannily epitomizes the crassness of the situations and the ritualistic need to display wealth. Throughout Luxury Parr cleverly averts his gaze away from the more obvious or sensational aspects of these occasions but assumes an intimate fly on the wall approach that covertly reveals the idiosyncrasies of the participants. Parr maintains an illusive impartiality that allows him to gently float from one scene to the next. The viewer becomes quickly enveloped in a feeling that they too are mingling side by side with these people and can deduce a range of unflattering and comical conclusions. The closeness of this approach pushes the viewer face to face with the bored workers, the face-lifts and people bulging out of their expensive clothing to reveal the vanity and vulgarity of the pomp and circumstance.




It is precisely Parr’s successful mix of candour, astute observation and subtle humour that provide us a visceral insight into the consumerist mentality of these society players. Parr has a highly perceptive gaze and integrity to his work that succinctly sums up the ways in which these brazenly wealthy characters project themselves. Luxury delicately pokes fun at their hollow facades and holds up a mirror to the sheer exhibitionism and aura of self-importance within these affluent settings. The book is elegantly presented with a padded and silver foil embossed cover that campily hints at the content of the book. —John Mathews