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Boring Postcards #1
Boring Postcards
As the title of this book suggests, each of the postcards that fill its pages is, in a sense, quite boring. Stale, often dully composed images of corporate headquarters, roadways, bus-station parking lots, convalescent-home dayrooms, hospital cafeterias, and undistinguished motels.
But look carefully, and the cards - culled from the collection of artist Martin Parr --are filled with fascinating little details. As a group, they offer readers the interesting opportunity to puzzle over the collective psyche of the people of the 1950s and '60s (the approximate vintage of the images) who were inclined to create, buy, and send these cards.
What, one can't help but wonder, could be so scintillating about a room at the Fortes Excelsior Motor Lodge near Pontefract, Yorkshire? The singular force of the orange bedspreads, carpet, drapes, and walls punctuated by the inexplicably white leather upholstered panel attached to the wall unit behind each of the room's beds.
The exterior of the Mirfield Modern School, shot at a distance and unimaginatively placed dead in the centre of the grey sky and green playing field? The building's Bauhaus-like lines. The tarmac of Luton Airport in London? The pink jumbo jet being towed into the frame from the left. The uniformly shaped trailers parked at the Freshwater Caravan Camp? The handwritten X that presumably marks the sender's location. The Chalets at Llandanwg?
Arguably, not much. The few hundred images here, unfettered by any explanatory text, offer a far from dull diversion for any readers interested in mid-century design or the mundane details of daily life.
But look carefully, and the cards - culled from the collection of artist Martin Parr --are filled with fascinating little details. As a group, they offer readers the interesting opportunity to puzzle over the collective psyche of the people of the 1950s and '60s (the approximate vintage of the images) who were inclined to create, buy, and send these cards.
What, one can't help but wonder, could be so scintillating about a room at the Fortes Excelsior Motor Lodge near Pontefract, Yorkshire? The singular force of the orange bedspreads, carpet, drapes, and walls punctuated by the inexplicably white leather upholstered panel attached to the wall unit behind each of the room's beds.
The exterior of the Mirfield Modern School, shot at a distance and unimaginatively placed dead in the centre of the grey sky and green playing field? The building's Bauhaus-like lines. The tarmac of Luton Airport in London? The pink jumbo jet being towed into the frame from the left. The uniformly shaped trailers parked at the Freshwater Caravan Camp? The handwritten X that presumably marks the sender's location. The Chalets at Llandanwg?
Arguably, not much. The few hundred images here, unfettered by any explanatory text, offer a far from dull diversion for any readers interested in mid-century design or the mundane details of daily life.
176 pages, Hardcover
First published September 30, 1999
92 people want to read
About the author
Martin Parr
195 books64 followersMartin 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
December 19, 2024
I am not sure that reading this book says more about me than I imagine for I must confess I found the images in 'Boring Postcards' far from boring; bizarre might have been a more appropriate description but boring, definitely not! Perhaps it is me that is boring as I found the book most interesting!
Motorway service stations - both internally and externally - airports, colleges, nuclear power stations, holiday camps, libraries, hospitals, town centre shopping precincts - new and old - golf courses and plain and simple streets, some with very little on them, all feature in this rather odd but entertaining book.
Some of the street scenes are perhaps the dullest, Bridle Road, Eastham, with one pedestrian and nothing else, Birk Dale with one parked car and nothing else, South Elsall does have a moving car on the road but nothing else while Main Road, Kelsale, looks anything but 'main'!
Tolworth Tower, where when I was at HM Treasury we had an office situated there which I once visited, sits alongside an older fashioned shopping area, and Prospect Ring, East Finchley, is one of those 1960s' tower blocks that could well have been pulled down now - certainly the three similar structures in Blackpool came down, albeit only in the last three years.
The various shopping centres depicted are all children of the 1960s and look well past their best now, even Preston's centre, which when it was built was state of the art. And the airports are almost unrecognisable from those of today, primitive would be the best description! The libraries at Corby, Sutton, and Luton all look dated but at the time they, too, would have been at the forefront of development.
The holiday parks look as though they are out of those 'Look at Life' films of the 1950s, particularly when the interiors are shown - the Drawing Room at "Westerley" in Minehead actually looks like it is out of the 1930s but when it was produced as a postcard I imagine that it was considered attractive - perhaps, anyway!
Possibly the most boring of the postcards, if we are to use that adjective, is that entitled 'A Bend on Porlock Hill' with a lengthy estate car taking a rather sharp bend and it looks as though it should be in a cartoon film with the car extending as it curves round the bend. There is nothing else in view other than some bushes! That is the penultimate postcard in the book and the final one rivals it as most boring for it is a black and white view of 'Rain Clouds, from Southend Pier'; as can be imagined it is one mass of grey all over, the main thing being distinguishable is the horizon!
The book may be entitled 'Boring' and may even be deemed boring to some but I found it quite fun.
19 December
Spotted this on the shelves and over a cup of coffee I revisited it and, in the main, I stand by what I said after the first read. Yes, it could be considered boring but the images were very definitely of their time and reflected the world we lived in then (most of them are from the 1950s and 1960s).
I do understand that various views of motorways, with very little traffic I should add, can easily be considered boring but that lack of traffic made them a trifle more interesting! And restaurants and reception areas could also be off-putting but that is how they were in those days of yore and one got used to them being that way. Whether they qualify to be transferred to a postcard is another matter. Although I suppose a message on the back to an auntie saying, 'This is where we registered when we arrived at x, y or z' might have added a little cachet to the card!
Whatever, the re-read amused me once more so it can go away again for a further few years!
Motorway service stations - both internally and externally - airports, colleges, nuclear power stations, holiday camps, libraries, hospitals, town centre shopping precincts - new and old - golf courses and plain and simple streets, some with very little on them, all feature in this rather odd but entertaining book.
Some of the street scenes are perhaps the dullest, Bridle Road, Eastham, with one pedestrian and nothing else, Birk Dale with one parked car and nothing else, South Elsall does have a moving car on the road but nothing else while Main Road, Kelsale, looks anything but 'main'!
Tolworth Tower, where when I was at HM Treasury we had an office situated there which I once visited, sits alongside an older fashioned shopping area, and Prospect Ring, East Finchley, is one of those 1960s' tower blocks that could well have been pulled down now - certainly the three similar structures in Blackpool came down, albeit only in the last three years.
The various shopping centres depicted are all children of the 1960s and look well past their best now, even Preston's centre, which when it was built was state of the art. And the airports are almost unrecognisable from those of today, primitive would be the best description! The libraries at Corby, Sutton, and Luton all look dated but at the time they, too, would have been at the forefront of development.
The holiday parks look as though they are out of those 'Look at Life' films of the 1950s, particularly when the interiors are shown - the Drawing Room at "Westerley" in Minehead actually looks like it is out of the 1930s but when it was produced as a postcard I imagine that it was considered attractive - perhaps, anyway!
Possibly the most boring of the postcards, if we are to use that adjective, is that entitled 'A Bend on Porlock Hill' with a lengthy estate car taking a rather sharp bend and it looks as though it should be in a cartoon film with the car extending as it curves round the bend. There is nothing else in view other than some bushes! That is the penultimate postcard in the book and the final one rivals it as most boring for it is a black and white view of 'Rain Clouds, from Southend Pier'; as can be imagined it is one mass of grey all over, the main thing being distinguishable is the horizon!
The book may be entitled 'Boring' and may even be deemed boring to some but I found it quite fun.
19 December
Spotted this on the shelves and over a cup of coffee I revisited it and, in the main, I stand by what I said after the first read. Yes, it could be considered boring but the images were very definitely of their time and reflected the world we lived in then (most of them are from the 1950s and 1960s).
I do understand that various views of motorways, with very little traffic I should add, can easily be considered boring but that lack of traffic made them a trifle more interesting! And restaurants and reception areas could also be off-putting but that is how they were in those days of yore and one got used to them being that way. Whether they qualify to be transferred to a postcard is another matter. Although I suppose a message on the back to an auntie saying, 'This is where we registered when we arrived at x, y or z' might have added a little cachet to the card!
Whatever, the re-read amused me once more so it can go away again for a further few years!
February 28, 2013
One of my favourite books of all time, featuring a collection of postcards whose sheer banality marks them out as special. Airports, motorway service stations and even a bend in the road were thought fit subjects for the British picture postcard. It evokes a Britain of the past that perhaps did not exist, for whose citizens boredom was a constant companion while one waited for Death to turn up. To page through it is to travel through a surreal, often modernist landscape of nuclear power stations, soulless shopping centres and bleak small town installations. It's genius and a total joy.
January 18, 2017
The postcards might be boring, but grouped together they're a fascinating insight into a world that has pretty much disappeared. The subjects are incredibly ordinary and why anyone would ever buy these is a mystery. They're presented without commentary, which makes them even more intriguing. My favourites are the ones of bus stations and shopping centres. :)
Quite surreal and strange to leaf through.
Quite surreal and strange to leaf through.
March 7, 2008
The worst and yet best book I have ever flipped through....
May 2, 2008
This book should be given an award for "Most Accurate Title Ever."
September 27, 2014
This book sat on my wishlist for ages until my wife finally got it for me. I can understand the reluctance to purchase this; Who wants to watch someone open a present and then proudly declare, "Yes, it was me who got you boring postcards!" Likewise, if you were flipping through this book at a bookstore, you probably wouldn't be surprised to find out that this book is exactly what it says it is: A book full of boring postcards, mostly from 50's and 60's England. This sure sounds tedious, but I found myself amused, even charmed - who in their right mind decided people wanted postcards of hospital cafeterias, rooms at motor lodges, and most mind-bogglingly, airport parking lots? Did anybody buy these? Non-ironically? I can't imagine sending one of these - Dear wife, really enjoying this parking lot, wish you were here.
Reading through the Amazon reviews, apparently some British readers were struck with nostalgia for a time when England was rebuilding itself after World War 2 and had bright hopes for the future; I don't have any of that, so I was just trying to come to grips with who in their right mind would make a postcard out of the living room at an invalid home.
Reading through the Amazon reviews, apparently some British readers were struck with nostalgia for a time when England was rebuilding itself after World War 2 and had bright hopes for the future; I don't have any of that, so I was just trying to come to grips with who in their right mind would make a postcard out of the living room at an invalid home.
January 23, 2014
The book has a certain fearless purity, but I was seized with the desire to know more from Parr, like how did the collection come about? How long did it take to put together? Especially given he is such a witty and incisive photographer.
January 23, 2008
This is surreal. Not a surreal work of art, actually surreal. like Man Ray or Magritte left it at your house by mistake.
July 22, 2013
Exactly what it says.
April 15, 2023
It is a book of boring old British postcards depicting motorways, office buildings, hospital canteens, shopping centres, airports, libraries, quarries etc., all circa 1960. A relaxing & nostalgic look back at what once was and will never be again.
July 23, 2021
I really liked the photos, all of them were consistently great. They really give a sense of plain ol' all-American small townscapes.
April 6, 2025
Sublime. If there's a fire, I'm grabbing my child and these books.
February 17, 2024
One of the reviews asks why anyone purchased these postcards. I think the answer is no one had phones with cameras. If you wanted to show someone your caravan in the holiday park you bought a postcard and marked it as one of the postcards demonstrates. Also this was a time when motorways and airports were exciting new infrastructure and going abroad was an adventure. A reminder of how far the world has come.
I would have liked a bit more information where available on the postcards, especially anything that dated them. The messages on the backs of the posted ones could have been fascinating.
Also there were what seemed like random blank pages which confused me.
I would have liked a bit more information where available on the postcards, especially anything that dated them. The messages on the backs of the posted ones could have been fascinating.
Also there were what seemed like random blank pages which confused me.
April 6, 2008
could have been very good, but it's two-thirds too long.
October 22, 2015
Cackle uncontrollably at the pointlessness of this book.
August 1, 2014
While some of the postcards betray a naïve pride in the post-war building boom, you have to wonder about the staff canteen at Stoke Mandeville…
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews