New exhibition celebrates enduring spirit of British post-war society

The Martin Parr Foundation is celebrating a decade of work by publishing house Café Royal Books with a new exhibition.

For the past ten years, Café Royal – founded by Craig Atkinson in 2005 – has produced weekly publications focusing on post-war documentary photography in Britain and Ireland in an accessible and affordable zine format.

The collection at Paintworks represents the largest published print archive of post-war British documentary photography.

Featuring work from 500 zines and 167 photographs by 70 photographers, Documentary, Zines and Subversion beginning on April 14 will champion the work of unseen, underrepresented and overlooked post-war documentary photographers in Britain and Ireland.

Sound system culture from the CRB zine ‘Notting Hill Carnival 1974’ – photo: Chris Miles. Courtesy of Martin Parr Foundation / Café Royal Books

For the past decade, the publishing house Café Royal has published a new zine focusing on a single body of work – the majority of which is previously unpublished.

As well as featuring widely-known photographers such as Shirely Baker, Chris Killip and Markéta Luskačová, Café Royale’s zines also spotlight photographers whose work has been either forgotten or previously excluded from the mainstream.

Collectively the zines provide a valuable archive of cultural and social shifts in Britain and Ireland, covering a diverse range of subject matter from protest to folk costumes, subculture, industry, architecture, politics and religion across urban and rural settings.

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Café Royal’s zines have seen a multitude of uses over the years, from nostalgia or as gifts, to reference tools by the film industry, to collections in the MoMA, New York, Harvard University and TATE.

Highlighting the importance of accessibility in the exhibition, Atkinson said: “The aim for Café Royal Books has always been to gather, uncover and make this work accessible.

“We’re very grateful to the Martin Parr Foundation – this exhibition will help expand the reach of the books and importantly, the work they include.”

Atkinson began publishing in 2005 as a way to disseminate art without relying on the gallery system.

The Tunnock’s Teacake production line at Tunnock’s factory in Glasgow – photo: Sophie Gerrard

In a similar vein, Martin Parr is widely recognised for democratising photography for a wider audience. His prolific documentation of quintessential aspects of British modern life frequently captures intimate, satirical and anthropological moments across the social classes of England.

His permanent gallery space in Paintworks aims to give a platform to British documentary work.

Parr called the exhibition “a perfect marriage”, adding “the Martin Parr Foundation is very pleased to present an exhibition of these zines and to show many images that they contain.”

Documentary, Zines and Subversion at the Martin Parr Foundation will run from April 14 to June 12. Atkinson will be in conversation with Martin Parr on May 17.

For more information, visit www.martinparrfoundation.org/events

Main photo: Nan Levy for the estate of Shirley Baker

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