Martin Parr (1952 - 2025)
09 Dec 2025
The news of Martin Parr’s death fills us with sadness. He was a visionary photographer whose eye reshaped how we see modern Britain.
10 years ago we were honoured to collaborate with Martin on The Rhubarb Triangle and Other Stories, a special commission and exhibition that celebrated the character and culture of our region with his signature warmth and wit. The resulting photographs were generously donated to Wakefield's permanent art collection by the artist so that people could enjoy them for generations to come.
Our thoughts are with Martin’s family, friends and all at the Martin Parr Foundation at this sad time.
Martin Parr: The Rhubarb Triangle and Other Stories
In 2016 The Hepworth Wakefield presented the largest Martin Parr exhibition in the UK since 2002, comprising more than 370 photographs that spanned the past 40 years.
Martin Parr: The Rhubarb Triangle and Other Stories displayed a chronological overview of Parr’s celebrated works, including rarely seen images from his series The Non-Conformists taken at the beginning of his career reflecting his experiences of living in Yorkshire, and The Last Resort, documenting leisure time in the seaside town of New Brighton.
The Rhubarb Triangle, a new commission, lay at the heart of the exhibition; it comprises a series of photographs taken over the last 12 months in an area of countryside known as ‘The Rhubarb Triangle’ between Wakefield, Morley and Rothwell in West Yorkshire, which is famous for producing early-forced rhubarb.
Parr’s photographs capture all aspects of the rhubarb business, from the back-breaking work of moving the rhubarb from field to shed, the freezing cold and exhausting labour of picking the vegetable by candlelight (or occasionally by head-torch), and the consumption of the rhubarb by coach parties and food tourists.
