Holiday with Martin Parr anyone?
image by Martin Parr
31 August – 2 September 2012.
If you’re not a fan, or a connoisseur, of Folkestone, it might be worth spending the weekend there with much-loved documentary artist Martin Parr to see if he makes you love it. Organised by The Scool of Life, this rare opportunity to learn about photography from one of the greats includes accommodation and food in its £850/£750 price, and we can’t think of a better way to experience the best and worst that the British seaside has to offer.
Parr is well-known for picking the out-of-place details that the media ignores, using social commentary and his considerable charm to challenge the mainstream images he calls ‘propaganda’. If you have an image in your head of what Folkestone is like, you can bet your house he’ll change it.
Folkestone is by turns beautiful and gloriously tacky – souvenir kitsch and jaded arcades wrestle for attention with beautiful beaches and cliffs. Parr will make sure you get the best out of it; he’ll be organising accommodation at his favourite hotel, taking you to the best restaurants in town, treating you to breakfast at proper old school greasy spoons, showing you around the artists’ quarter and the fishing harbour, and sharing his personal postcard collection. The expectation is that you leave with a fondness for Folkestone, and a whole new perspective on what constitutes beauty.
Can you think of a more pleasurable to get training on taking seaside snaps? Thought not.
by Jennie Gillions
All food is included. Accommodation at the hotel is available in private or shared rooms. Single rooms are limited in number and available on a first-come-first-served basis.
Single Accommodation: £850 | Shared Accommodation: £750
Visit theschooloflife.com for more information.