Langweilige Postkarten: Boring Postcards Germany

Boring Postcards #3

by Martin Parr

In Langweilige Postkarten Martin Parr presents the pride of his 'boring' 160 postcards from Germany that take you on a daringly dull tour of its autobahns, airports, hotels, factories, shops, border posts, tower blocks and new towns. Presented without commentary or introduction of any kind, and with the original captions, the postcards are allowed to speak for themselves. All made before German reunification, they provide simultaneously fascinating and hilarious insights into German social and architectural values between the 1950s and 1980s. The two nations' special relationship with concrete and the functional modernist block is nostalgically and repetitiously celebrated in postcard after postcard, and the volume provides a revealing context for consideration of the work of contemporary German art and landscape photographers.

Photographer Martin Parr [b.1952] is a key figure in the worlds of photography and contemporary art. His acute eye for the subtle quirks and underlying continuity of human life is reflected in his avid collection of postcards gathered over 20 years.

176 pages, Hardcover

First published January 5, 2001

About the author

Martin Parr was born in Epsom, Surrey, UK in 1952. When he was a boy, his budding interest in the medium of photography was encouraged by his grandfather George Parr, himself a keen amateur photographer.

Parr studied photography at Manchester Polytechnic, from 1970-1973. Since that time, Martin Parr has worked on numerous photographic projects. He has developed an international reputation for his innovative imagery, his oblique approach to social documentary, and his input to photographic culture within the UK and abroad.

In 1994 he became a full member of Magnum Photographic Corporation. In recent years, he has developed an interest in filmmaking, and has started to use his photography within different conventions, such as fashion and advertising.

In 2002 the Barbican Art Gallery and the National Media Museum initiated a large retrospective of Parr's work. This show toured Europe for the next 5 years.

Parr was appointed Professor of Photography in 2004 at The University of Wales Newport campus. He was Guest Artistic Director for Rencontres D'Arles in 2004. In 2006 he was awarded the Erich Salomon Prize and the resulting Assorted Cocktail show opened at Photokina. In 2008 he was guest curator at the New York Photo Festival, curating the New Typologies exhibition. At PhotoEspana, 2008, he won the Baume et Mercier award in recognition of his professional career and contributions to contemporary photography.

Reviews

[Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've got the British version of this (which doesn't seem to be on Goodreads) - it's fabulously boring. And utterly fascinating.

[Timothy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sublime. Highly recommend all three editions (UK, USA, & Germany). Will forever wish that there were more!

[Cheryl Leon Levy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The title is German for "Boring Postcards" -- simply a collection of postcards that show pictures of motels, bits of highway, plain buildings. It's pretty funny. There is also an English version with different cards in it.

[Helen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yes, these are, indeed, boring postcards! Recommended for art appreciators, sociologists & anthropologists!