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Parr, Martin (Photographer); Della Portella, Ivana & Fifield, Barringer (Contributors).
MARTIN PARR: TUTTA ROMA ("MARTIN PARR: ALL OF ROME") .
Rome, Italy:
Contrasto,
2006.
Softcover.
First Edition/First Printing.
95 pages.
As New/As New.
Exhibition catalog. The first and only edition. The sequel-of-sorts to "Small World", it was published in an extremely small and limited print run of 500 copies as a softcover original only. The book is now very scarce. A brilliant production by Martin Parr and Daniele Genchi: Regular-sized volume format. Pictorial softcovers with titles on the cover and spine, as issued. Photographs by Martin Parr. Essays by Ivana della Portella and Barringer Fifield. Printed on thick coated stock paper by EBS in Verona, Italy to the very highest standards. In thick plastic cover, as issued. Published on the occasion of the exhibition of the same name held at the Palazzo Caffarelli Rome from April 5 through May 28, 2006. Presents Martin Parr's photographs of tourists in various parts of Rome, the busiest tourist city in the world. The photographs are divided according to the actual tourist destinations in which they were taken: San Pietro (the Vatican Plaza), Piazza Navona, Pantheon Minerva, Fontavi di Trevi, Piazza Venezia Vittoriano, Foro Romano Colosseo (the Colosseum), and Piazza di Spagna. Ancient Greece is spread out and comparatively inaccessible whereas ancient Rome remains a vibrant, lively, and "must-see" city-center, dotted with remnants of the past that have survived the ages, including the present one. The way the book is presented is inspired: Barringer Fifield, a travel writer and scholar, has contributed a well-written running commentary (supplemented with very detailed maps) that describes the history, beauty, and historical significance of the Roman sites, as if the book itself should serve as the reliable travel guide to Rome. The twist is that none of Martin Parr's accompanying photographs is conventionally picturesque. Instead, he shows a great city densely populated by tourists, in their casual gear and T-shirts, maps, hats, souvenirs, standard guides, and most ubiquitous of all, their high-tech digital cameras. All of Martin Parr's photographs of the foreign places he has visited contain photographs of people taking photographs. "Tutta Roma" takes that doubling effect a step further: Nearly every photograph in the book is that of a person or group of people taking photographs. One comes away with the feeling that the only reason people go to Rome these days is to take photographs of it, what Susan Sontag once called "photographic seeing", rather than to enjoy and experience Rome itself. Experience is ruthlessly reduced to one sense: The sense of sight, as captured by the camera. All other senses are willfully suppressed. There is nothing more telling about our highly developed camera culture than our relentless picture-taking, and Martin Parr, the ultimate ironist, makes us acutely and affectionately aware of it. It is not possible to understand the art and photography of our time without taking stock of Martin Parr's work and achievement. A "must-have" title for Martin Parr collectors. This copy is very prominently and beautifully signed in black pen on the title page by Martin Parr. This is an Import title, was not widely distributed even in Italy, is now out-of-print and highly collectible. This is one of extremely few signed copies still available online and has no flaws, a pristine beauty. A rare signed copy thus. 68 color plates. The most important and influential living British artist/photographer. A flawless collectible copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER MARTIN PARR TITLES IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 8869650162. $150.00
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Parr, Martin (Photographer); Della Portella, Ivana & Fifield, Barringer (Contributors).
MARTIN PARR: TUTTA ROMA ("MARTIN PARR: ALL OF ROME") .
Rome, Italy:
Contrasto,
2006.
Softcover.
First Edition/First Printing.
95 pages.
As New/As New.