Small World: Martin Parr

The galerie Clémentine de la Féronnière presents Small World, one of Martin Parr’s most celebrated and enduring bodies of work, a sharp, affectionate, and at times unsettling portrait of mass tourism and the universal human desire to experience the world.

 First published in 1995, the series documents the paradox at the heart of modern travel: driven by the search for authenticity, tourists become the very agents of its destruction. With his signature bold colour and unflinching eye, Martin Parr captures the absurdity and joy of the global tourist experience, from crowded landmarks to the ubiquitous selfie, with equal parts humour and tenderness.

The exhibition brings together a carefully chosen selection of more than twenty vintage prints and modern prints that demonstrate the full breadth and vitality of the series. Together, they offer an intimate and comprehensive view of a project that the artist revisited and expanded throughout his entire career.

 Extending beyond the walls of the main exhibition, the gallery’s bookshop hosts an immersive installation dedicated to Common Sense, Martin Parr’s visceral and hypnotic series of extreme close-ups of food, bodies, and consumer objects, inviting visitors to step inside one of his most iconic and provocative works.