Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Funrals are customarily designed to soften a person to the ritual of honor, to carefully arrange the unpleasant aspects of life. But Martin Parr spent more than half a century sending idiosyncratic and difficult, in a way that is sometimes unpleasant, cruel, and always safe. So his funeral was not the usual farewell. At the ceremony held at the church in the Woodlands Memorial Garden near Bristol, people who knew Parr throughout his life spoke, and Parr’s favorite songs were sung – guests came to Astrud Gilberto, João Gilberto and Stan Getz of The Girl from Ipanema. Parr had just photographed the original Ipanema girl, Helô Pinheiro, who is now 82 years old.
With the help of the staff of the Martin Parr Foundation, the family planned to send Martin Parr after the event: a beautiful national celebration decorated with sandwiches covered in films, cakes with sad faces, teapots with natty tea, and a tombola of unnecessary Christmas gifts that are used annually – in memory. (Proceeds went to food poverty charity the Trussell Trust.) The Art of Dining, a collaborative group that creates interactive dining experiences created by Parr’s chef’s daughter Ellen and designer Alice Hodge, has recreated food from many of the late artist’s famous photographs.
Grayson Perry was among the guests. “The work at the chapel was very sweet, unbiased, and very touching,” he tells me over the phone. It was a beautiful non-religious place, and a green sanctuary. There were many traditional people there. The tea party with his portraits was a very sweet tribute to him.”
Perry, who has been a fan of Parr’s work since the 1990s, first met Martin at a house party in Notting Hill, west London, in 2004. “I was drunk and I went up to him and gave him a big hug and said: ‘I love you, Martin Parr. He didn’t move.'” The two became friends later. “He was very stubborn, and very passionate. I remember when I went to stay at his house, he would have 10 eBay ads at a time for Saddam Hussein matches or Barack Obama Cheetos, in his collection.” Perry describes Parr as “a photographer on the train” and “the hardest working person I know. One of Perry’s complaints is that he didn’t make the television show he has long joked about: “The Ten Most Disappointing Attractions in the World.” Once I decided to go to Machu Picchu – Martin said: ‘Don’t go up there, if you go up the mountain and it’s foggy and foggy.’”
As unusual as funeral photography was, the idea that Parr would not go unphotographed was unthinkable. Sophie Green met Martin in Bristol in 2019, and later helped him edit the illustrations for his book, Tangerine Dreams. He also showed Parr his work in progress, documenting death rituals: “He was excited about it.”
Funerals do not really exist in cultural images and are something of a taboo image. Although it appears to be Parr’s best subject, one of his only published funeral photos was taken in a village in Indonesia in 1993 – it was advertised as a day trip on a minibus for visitors to a traditional ceremony, and the photos were accepted. “This was something I thought I would never see,” Parr reflected on the photo in his book, Utterly Lazy and Inattentive. Although he did not make many funeral works, he photographed his mother’s funeral, and in 2013 he asked people to send their funeral photos to be exhibited at the Portrait Gallery. Susie Parr, the photographer’s wife of 40 years, recalls that he “loved the idea of photographing a funeral, breaking the law”.
After Parr’s death in December 2025, Green reached out to the Martin Parr Foundation “to see if they would be interested in me photographing the funeral, and they were receptive. Because of Martin’s interest in the matter, it seemed like something he would want. I was honored to photograph his funeral, after his generous support. I felt I had to include him.” It was a feeling that Susie Parr had. “I believe he would have wanted this,” he says.
Green’s photographs provide a unique overview of Parr’s unique delivery. Fantasy-colored, sugar-coated cups with their little jack-of-all-trades flags; platters filled with sandwiches and sausage rolls; a reconstruction of Parr’s iconic image, a bowl of cherry tomatoes with a sign reading “Please take ONE tomato with your roll”: these images look carefully at the small, thoughtful and personal details that characterize Parr and his life. Grief goes through the cracks; the images are soft and shot randomly, avoiding full focus or direct focus.
Green’s goal, he says, is to challenge the idea of what a funeral can be. “Funerals are difficult and sad, but they can be beautiful parties where people come together, and there is something that changes the place.” His work on Death Rituals began six years ago, during the Covid pandemic, when funerals had to be limited and indiscriminate. “It made me think deeply about the customs of death and how funerals can be celebrated.”
Through celebrants and funeral directors, Green connected with families who saw the writing as a way to remember the event. It’s not hard to find people who want to – on average, they photograph five funerals a year. He went to a wild funeral among oak trees and a funeral with Britney Spears in drag. “There are many funerals and parties, and there is nothing like them.
Funerals show the nature of death. So, people don’t want this to be recorded, or they think it’s disrespectful to the dead, or they feel sorry for the camera there. But some people see the power of having a picture of special events in their life. He believes that the lack of mourning in photography and in public reinforces the habit, “feeling that there is something wrong with it and it shouldn’t exist. But we can change the story by talking. It’s very common – it’s part of everyday life. I think we have to talk about it.”
As for Parr’s funeral, it is appropriate that it remains in Green’s paintings: the final, romantic, renewal of tradition, forces us to look at the strange. Green’s hope is that his photos, the last collaboration with Parr, will inspire others. “Anyone who attended will always remember that day. It was very moving; there was something very interesting and fun and wonderful for Martin about it. I hope this will inspire other people to think about what funerals can be like – and maybe even start planning our own.”
‘It was a real celebration’: Susie Parr on Martin’s send off
When Martin died at the beginning of the Christmas season, we had a few weeks to prepare for his funeral. Ellen and I thought hard about what we should do and ended up with a home-planned event accordingly. We organized this event for Martin’s family, friends and colleagues to talk about every part of his life, from his childhood to founding his foundation. We chose songs that Martin liked and represented the different places we’ve been: Hebden Bridge, Ireland, Wallasey, Bristol. We chose a very simple cardboard box, with flowers and greenery taken from the Polygon garden (a Georgian estate in Bristol). We provided a basket of rosemary herbs that people could place on the casket – a token of remembrance.
After the sadness of the ceremony, the party was a true celebration of Martin, his work, and his many struggles. He loved national fertilizers, so we made the theme of the party. A friend made cupcakes that recreated Martin’s photos including sad cupcakes and rainbow colored sponge cake. We could not have done all this without the special support of the foundation staff. The Art of Dining did everything in its power to recreate many of Martin’s photos.
The Woodlands Memorial Garden is a beautiful site, with a simple chapel and reception area. One of the many advantages of this place is that it gives you time – our work and feasting took all afternoon. As the site is a few miles north of Bristol, we decided to take the bus for the many foreign tourists who did not have their own transport. Unfortunately the bus that came to bring people back to Bristol got stuck in the mud, and wouldn’t move despite their best efforts to push it back onto the road. It was a fitting and funny end to a great afternoon. Martin would love it.
Tangerine dreams is at the Martin Parr Foundation, Bristol, June 6 until 4 September.
