A permanent tribute to photographer Martin Parr is planned for New Brighton's seafront, celebrating his iconic series The Last Resort which reshaped the town's image. The mural, proposed by New Brighton Creative Futures CIC in collaboration with the Martin Parr Foundation, will be located close to the landscape that featured in his celebrated photographs.
A lasting legacy for The Last Resort
Parr, who died in December 2025 aged 73, shot The Last Resort between 1983 and 1985 on New Brighton's seafront. The series helped cement the Wirral resort's place in British documentary photography history.
John McCall, membership manager at the Martin Parr Foundation, said Parr was immensely proud of the work. He told the ECHO: “When he was asked about it, he always said that was his most important body of work. He’s quoted as saying, when he gets to the pearly gates, that’s the body of work he would present first. He was very proud of it.”
Controversy and local pride
The photographs proved controversial in some quarters, with critics accusing Parr of presenting a working-class community in an unsympathetic light. McCall said the series “had a critical reception at the time and was quite a controversial body of work, both in the subject matter and the way that he shot in colour with flash. It made a big splash and helped make Martin’s name in photography.”
He added: “To some audiences, they thought here’s a working-class community portrayed in not a very sympathetic light, but to me, I grew up working-class, I went on holiday to places like that, that's just how it was. It was a faithful record of a time. Everyone looks like they're having a great time.”
While the series attracted outcry when exhibited in London, its reception in Liverpool was different. McCall said: “When Martin talked about the controversy around it, he said when it was shown in Liverpool, no one batted an eyelid, and everyone loved it. It was only when it went down to London that there was a kind of outcry from the establishment that they thought it was punching down.”
Personal connections and artistic freedom
Parr and his wife Susie had loved living in Wirral, with New Brighton part of their daily lives. McCall said: “I know that both he and Susie loved living there. Susie’s quoted as saying that they’d come out the house, he’d turn left and go along New Brighton to shoot for the day and she’d turn right and roller skate along to get the ferry across the Mersey for her work. It sounded really idyllic.”
The series still resonates with locals, with the foundation receiving regular messages from people recognising relatives. McCall said: “We've had so many requests here in the foundation from people who are photographed in it. Martin always said he’d send a print to anyone who was in the pictures. We get an email every couple of months from people saying, ‘That's my aunt’, or ‘That's my grandma. Can we get a copy of a print?’”
The mural is expected to feature a realistic depiction of Parr by local artist Liam Bononi, who is known for true-to-life portraits. The final design has been left to Bononi, with freedom to decide whether and how elements of Parr's work might feature.
Funding and public support
The project is seeking public donations and inviting local and regional businesses to sponsor. Rory Wilmer, Creative Director Founder of New Brighton Creative Futures CIC, said: “Martin Parr saw something in New Brighton that the rest of the world had overlooked, and he turned it into some of the most important photographs Britain has ever produced. When he passed away, we felt that loss as a town. This mural is our thank you, a way to keep him here, on the seafront he loved, for generations to come. We’d be honoured if the people of New Brighton would help us build it.”
