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Boring Postcards (Paperback)

by Martin Parr (Author)

5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

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Product details

Paperback: 176 pages
Publisher: Phaidon Press Ltd; New edition edition (Feb 2004)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0714843903
ISBN-13: 978-0714843902
Product Dimensions: 20.6 x 15.2 x 2 cm

Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 281,939 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Popular in these categories:

#24 in	Books > Art, Architecture & Photography > Photography > Subjects & Types > Commercial Photography
#29 in	Books > Art, Architecture & Photography > Photography > Subjects & Types > Travel > Great Britain

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Product Description

Review

"Individually, the cards are a kitsch hoot; collectively, they re-create not only the appearance but the spirit and soul of a Britain that vanished for ever somewhere around the 1970s.... Parr's 'boring postcards' give meaning to a wistful phrase much beloved of recent prime ministers. They show the last time Britain really was, for better or worse, a nation at ease with itself. Look back and mourn." The Sunday Times "Martin Parr's daringly dull collection of 160 coma-inducing postcards from the edge of common sense. Yes, they're funny. But they also reveal a view of the UK in the period from the '50s to the '70s, when road-building and fast development looked like signs of a healthy future." Time Out "Individually each of the postcards more than meet the requirements of the book's title - yes, these are ludicrously boring places - but as whole they make a compelling collection." Dazed & Confused "... far from dull, Parr's book is a strangely compelling commentary on postwar British architecture, social life and identity..." Independent on Sunday "... Groovy, baby." Time "... exquisitely tedious... visual gems..." World of Interiors "... the funniest book [of the year] has been Boring Postcards by Martin Parr, which I keep on the kitchen table and chortle over during breakfast. This sends my cornflakes flying...." Charlotte Cory (novelist), The Independent "... top of the class... Its blend of pathos and bathos is hilarious. It fills the onlooker with Christmas spirit: that's to say, nostalgia, revulsion, hysteria and delight." Evening Standard"

Product Description

160 boring postcards of the British Isles, reproduced as they have been found, actual size, from the collection of the great iconoclast of British photography, Martin Parr. This is a serious art book, a depiction of a tragic Britain with tragic taste, and a photographic entertainment which a large audience will enjoy. 160 postcards are reproduced as they have been found, in their actual size, with all the character of their original reproduction, amateur retouching, crinkly edges and bent corners. Treated as art objects with a classic white border surround, each are captioned with their original description as printed on the front or the reverse - for example: 'T&G,W,U Recuperation Centre, Littleport'; 'View from the Berry Court Holiday Flatlets, Brixham, South Devon'; 'A40 Traffic'; 'The M1 Service Area at Newport Pagnall'; 'Market Precinct, Scunthorpe'; 'A Bend on Porlock Hill' etc. All the postcards featured will depict places in the British Isles; most stem from a period of optimism in Britain as new civic centres, motorways, airports, and power stations were built and launched; souvenirs of 60s and 70s achievements we now question. For a postcard to qualify as sufficiently 'boring', either its composition, or its content, or the characters featured, must be arguably boring; or the photograph must be absent of anything which might conventionally be described as interesting. Of course the postcards finally are not boring at all, but powerful, interesting and loaded statements about time and place and the aesthetic of Britain.

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Customer Reviews

6 Reviews

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5.0 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Boring postcards, brilliant book!, 19 Jul 2004

By	Mr. P. Lewin "pcwl" (Bristol, England) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

When I first picked this book up in a high street bookshop, I was gripped by it immediately! Even having lived through the 1970s, the decade often called the one taste forgot, I couldn't believe the range of subjects photographed. In the '60s when motorways were new and thus considered exciting, perhaps one could understand the desire to picture the M1, and various parts of service stations. But who on earth wanted to buy photographs showing traffic on the A40, or indeed to celebrate Carlton Court Shopping Centre, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol (which I've known for 30 years, and it doesn't look any better now than it did then!). Would people be so proud now of Preston Bus Station as they were then? And would anyone really be keen to buy pictures of Butlins' Reception and Dining Halls, or Travelodge bedrooms.

In creating this book, Martin Parr has reminded readers of a now bygone era, when the now hideous was considered magnificent. I could hardly contain myself. If you're 30+ or into architecture, this book is a must-have. As it is if you're a keen photographer, or just want an easy read to make you laugh.

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Far from Boring, 15 Sep 2005

By	Mr. A. Belsey "belsey7" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The title of this book is very misleading, because the postcards are far from boring. They provide a fascinating insight into the architecture, cars and clothing of the 1950s and 1960s, with motorways, shopping centres, suburbia, factories, holiday camps, chalets, caravans and much else. I suspect that quite of a bit of what was then regarded as the best of modern architecture has since been demolished, so there are indispensable historical records here too. Nor are the postcards boring on the technical side: the picture of Budleigh Salterton, with its foreground and background, diagonal lines and a wealth of detail, is a brilliantly composed photograph. The picture of the nuclear reactor at Dounreay is like a piece of modern abstract art, with its blocks, cylinders and sphere. Many of the others are also excellent photographs, which is not surprising, as they must have been taken by professionals. This book is stuffed with art and history, and there is not one boring postcard in the whole collection.

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sublime, comic, historic, a must have!, 24 Jan 2005

By	mrcambridge (UK) - See all my reviews

This is a very unusual book, but gripping, holding many many photographs of old postcards from a very dull era of the UK, yet they are fascinating to look at today. How architects and builders got away with some hideous buildings only a few decades ago is incredible. What a long way we have come, looking at the exciting postcards for motorways, service stations, power stations and holiday camps amoung others.

This book is very hard to categorise, but once you've seen it, you'll want it!

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Gripping stuff.
It really is gripping, with no accompanying blurb for the cards, one is left to imagine (if you didn't live there then) what these worlds were like and about the people who... Read more

Published 3 months ago by J. P. Oley

5.0 out of 5 stars Lives up to its title - with hilarity and fascination
I was gripped by this book featuring postcards depicting near-empty motorways, new concrete bridges, car parks, bus stations, supermarket exteriors, town centres, tower blocks,... Read more

Published 8 months ago by K. L. Wren

5.0 out of 5 stars Boring Postcards
The funniest book I have read all year. It made being laid up in a ski resort with a ruptured ligament tolerable

Published on 13 Aug 2006 by Dr. Iain S. Mclean

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