Postcards

This book is the comprehensive account of Martin Parrs unique postcard collection. Featuring 650 cards, selected by Parr from his collection of over 20,000 cards built over 30 years, its contents are presented in the manner of a postcard album. A highly entertaining journey into the themes of Parrworld, it is also a serious study of postcard history through the 20th century. Presented in 20 chronologically sequenced chapters, this book opens with British postcards from the beginning of the century, made to mark notable local news events such as car crashes, murders, lightning strikes and acts of suffragette vandalism.It continues through the elaborate story-telling postcards of W Gothard, whose Barnsley studio commemorated mining and shipping disasters; a collection on incidents of World War I, from scenes of bombing to celebrations of war heroes; novelty portrait postcards from the 1920's and 1930's; bizarre hand-coloured cards from the 1930's; and, the holiday postcards of John Hinde that so influenced Parrs own photographic style. This book ends in Boring Postcards territory with a selection of late 20th century postcards promoting new motorways, airports and shops.