Parr said his brightly coloured, closely observed pictures of British life were ‘disguised as entertainment’ but they became hugely popular

Martin Parr, the British documentary photographer who captured the peculiarities of the nation with clarity and hilarity, has died aged 73. He had been diagnosed with cancer in May 2021.

Known for his acute observations of the English class system, Parr’s images covered sunbathers and Conservative clubs, village fetes and coffee mornings, often in vivid colour and with more than a dash of humour. His iconic 1986 photobook The Last Resort: Photographs of New Brighton captured working-class holidaymakers in the Wirral, Liverpool and helped mark a sea change in British documentary photography, from the gritty, black and white style of the past towards a cheekier and more colourful style.

Parr said his brightly coloured, closely observed pictures of British life were ‘disguised as entertainment’ but they became hugely popular

Martin Parr, the British documentary photographer who captured the peculiarities of the nation with clarity and hilarity, has died aged 73. He had been diagnosed with cancer in May 2021.

Known for his acute observations of the English class system, Parr’s images covered sunbathers and Conservative clubs, village fetes and coffee mornings, often in vivid colour and with more than a dash of humour. His iconic 1986 photobook The Last Resort: Photographs of New Brighton captured working-class holidaymakers in the Wirral, Liverpool and helped mark a sea change in British documentary photography, from the gritty, black and white style of the past towards a cheekier and more colourful style.

Parr said his brightly coloured, closely observed pictures of British life were ‘disguised as entertainment’ but they became hugely popular

Martin Parr, the British documentary photographer who captured the peculiarities of the nation with clarity and hilarity, has died aged 73. He had been diagnosed with cancer in May 2021.

Known for his acute observations of the English class system, Parr’s images covered sunbathers and Conservative clubs, village fetes and coffee mornings, often in vivid colour and with more than a dash of humour. His iconic 1986 photobook The Last Resort: Photographs of New Brighton captured working-class holidaymakers in the Wirral, Liverpool and helped mark a sea change in British documentary photography, from the gritty, black and white style of the past towards a cheekier and more colourful style.

Shakespeare’s Globe, London
Meticulous direction and an excellent cast bring to life the story of Geppetto and the puppet he crafts from wood

‘Fast is FUN!” bellows Pinocchio as he tears about the stage, testing the limits of his newly animated legs. It’s a handy edict for anyone adapting the many moralising, terrifying and bizarre episodes within Carlo Collodi’s 1883 novel. Charlie Josephine and Jim Fortune’s new family musical takes heed, barreling out of the blocks to cover an impressive chunk of Collodi’s story while swapping its darkness and finger-wagging for heartwarming lessons and boisterous humour.

In a narrow-minded Italian town (hammily chorused “mamma mias!” kick off the blissful silliness to come), free-thinking inventor Geppetto is an outcast. His ticket to adventure arrives as a piece of talking wood, which he plans to craft into a fortune-winning puppet. Pinocchio, of course, has other ideas. But here, the puppet’s journey to boyhood isn’t just about learning what makes us good, but what makes us human. His scrapes along the way are born not out of wickedness but curiosity and impulsive energy – perfectly captured by the three puppeteers animating Peter O’Rourke’s simple wooden design (including Lee Braithwaite, who gives Pinocchio a voice wild and wonder-filled), and by Josephine’s book, which sees Pinocchio firing off life’s big questions only to interrupt the answers with yells of “I’m hungry!”

Shakespeare’s Globe, London
Meticulous direction and an excellent cast bring to life the story of Geppetto and the puppet he crafts from wood

‘Fast is FUN!” bellows Pinocchio as he tears about the stage, testing the limits of his newly animated legs. It’s a handy edict for anyone adapting the many moralising, terrifying and bizarre episodes within Carlo Collodi’s 1883 novel. Charlie Josephine and Jim Fortune’s new family musical takes heed, barreling out of the blocks to cover an impressive chunk of Collodi’s story while swapping its darkness and finger-wagging for heartwarming lessons and boisterous humour.

In a narrow-minded Italian town (hammily chorused “mamma mias!” kick off the blissful silliness to come), free-thinking inventor Geppetto is an outcast. His ticket to adventure arrives as a piece of talking wood, which he plans to craft into a fortune-winning puppet. Pinocchio, of course, has other ideas. But here, the puppet’s journey to boyhood isn’t just about learning what makes us good, but what makes us human. His scrapes along the way are born not out of wickedness but curiosity and impulsive energy – perfectly captured by the three puppeteers animating Peter O’Rourke’s simple wooden design (including Lee Braithwaite, who gives Pinocchio a voice wild and wonder-filled), and by Josephine’s book, which sees Pinocchio firing off life’s big questions only to interrupt the answers with yells of “I’m hungry!”

Shakespeare’s Globe, London
Meticulous direction and an excellent cast bring to life the story of Geppetto and the puppet he crafts from wood

‘Fast is FUN!” bellows Pinocchio as he tears about the stage, testing the limits of his newly animated legs. It’s a handy edict for anyone adapting the many moralising, terrifying and bizarre episodes within Carlo Collodi’s 1883 novel. Charlie Josephine and Jim Fortune’s new family musical takes heed, barreling out of the blocks to cover an impressive chunk of Collodi’s story while swapping its darkness and finger-wagging for heartwarming lessons and boisterous humour.

In a narrow-minded Italian town (hammily chorused “mamma mias!” kick off the blissful silliness to come), free-thinking inventor Geppetto is an outcast. His ticket to adventure arrives as a piece of talking wood, which he plans to craft into a fortune-winning puppet. Pinocchio, of course, has other ideas. But here, the puppet’s journey to boyhood isn’t just about learning what makes us good, but what makes us human. His scrapes along the way are born not out of wickedness but curiosity and impulsive energy – perfectly captured by the three puppeteers animating Peter O’Rourke’s simple wooden design (including Lee Braithwaite, who gives Pinocchio a voice wild and wonder-filled), and by Josephine’s book, which sees Pinocchio firing off life’s big questions only to interrupt the answers with yells of “I’m hungry!”

• Captain says his dressing room ‘isn’t a place for weak men’

• Coach McCullum says England ‘overprepared’

Ben Stokes has admitted that the way England have folded in key moments during the first two Ashes Tests has led him to question the character of his players, and insisted: “A dressing room that I am captain of isn’t a place for weak men.”

After Australia won the second Test in Brisbane by the same eight-wicket margin with which they secured the first , Stokes suggested the telling difference was that the home side had been superior in the “moments in the game where the heat is on and the pressure is really, really cooking” whereas his players “have all been guilty at moments [of] letting the pressure, the occasion, the circumstances, get to us”.

• Captain says his dressing room ‘isn’t a place for weak men’

• Coach McCullum says England ‘overprepared’

Ben Stokes has admitted that the way England have folded in key moments during the first two Ashes Tests has led him to question the character of his players, and insisted: “A dressing room that I am captain of isn’t a place for weak men.”

After Australia won the second Test in Brisbane by the same eight-wicket margin with which they secured the first , Stokes suggested the telling difference was that the home side had been superior in the “moments in the game where the heat is on and the pressure is really, really cooking” whereas his players “have all been guilty at moments [of] letting the pressure, the occasion, the circumstances, get to us”.

• Captain says his dressing room ‘isn’t a place for weak men’

• Coach McCullum says England ‘overprepared’

Ben Stokes has admitted that the way England have folded in key moments during the first two Ashes Tests has led him to question the character of his players, and insisted: “A dressing room that I am captain of isn’t a place for weak men.”

After Australia won the second Test in Brisbane by the same eight-wicket margin with which they secured the first , Stokes suggested the telling difference was that the home side had been superior in the “moments in the game where the heat is on and the pressure is really, really cooking” whereas his players “have all been guilty at moments [of] letting the pressure, the occasion, the circumstances, get to us”.