Being a bit spoilt at the moment… an excellent series on photography started on BBC Four this week, and an adviser to the programme is one one of my favourite photographers, Martin Parr.
There was also a nice supplement on photography in The Guardian today – including an article by Parr. The opening paragraph is great, confirms why I rate him so much – and seems to chime with my notion that in photography as in many things, it’s a bad workman who blames his tools:
Modern technology has taken the angst out of taking the perfect shot. For me, the only thing that counts is the idea behind the image: what you want to see and what you want to say. The idea is crucial.
That and the bit on the BBC web site where it describes how Martin Parr only got into Magnum by a single vote and how much some other Magnum photographers hate him.