Martin Parr “Global Warning” at Paris’s Jeu de Paume

Martin Parr Sounds the Alarm In Postcards and Punchlines

Martin Parr Global Warning launches with a grin, then sticks the landing with a gut punch. The major retrospective, opening at Paris’s Jeu de Paume from January 30 to May 24, 2026, spans over fifty years of photographic mischief turned masterclass in cultural critique. This isn’t just a look back; it’s a flashing red light. Through 180 works, Parr doesn’t simply document the modern world. Instead, he exposes its contradictions with irony, color, and ruthless composure.

What Martin Parr Global Warning Reveals About Us

At first glance, Martin Parr Global Warning might look like a travelogue in Technicolor. Look closer, however, and the sugary veneer starts to crack. From disposable beach toys to tourists bottlenecked beneath the Mona Lisa, Parr’s lens captures more than leisure, it captures a planet teetering on the edge.

Over five themed sections, the exhibition drills into the mess we’ve made. Crucially, it doesn’t lecture. It lures us in with humor, then delivers a bitter aftertaste.

Five Sections That Hit Harder Than Expected

1. Leisure and Its Fallout

Firstly our obsession with pleasure has real consequences. Beaches cluttered with trash, artificial pools teeming with tourists, and candy-colored chaos all speak to a world where escapism has become pollution in disguise. In these images, joy and damage coexist—eerily and uncomfortably.

2. Everything Must Go
Consumerism, treated here as a kind of spiritual experience, dominates. Martin Parr turns supermarkets and mega-malls into stages of collective craving. More importantly, he highlights how this frantic search for meaning through material things leaves us emptier than ever.

3. Petite Planète
Tourism has been one of Parr’s central obsessions for decades. However, in Global Warning, it transforms into a study of exploitation and excess. From cruise ports to sacred sites, travelers are depicted not as seekers of culture, but as agents of cultural erosion.

4. The Animal Kingdom
Animals appear not as wild or noble, but as accessories to human ego. Whether it’s dogs in sunglasses or elephants turned into Instagram props, these images reveal a deep imbalance in how we treat other living beings.

5. Tech Addictions
Finally, Parr tackles the seduction of the machine. Phones, screens, cars, and slot machines become symbols of our estrangement from nature, each more engrossing than the last. Even as our devices connect us, they isolate us more than we dare admit.

Parr’s Satire Cuts Deeper Than You Think

Unlike many artists exploring ecological or societal themes, Martin Parr avoids moral superiority. He doesn’t pretend to be above it all. “On va vers la catastrophe, mais on y va tous ensemble,” he said in 2022. We’re heading toward catastrophe, but we’re doing it together. That shared complicity is the soul of his work.

Even his signature humor—bright, ironic, deadpan—serves a purpose. Rather than soften the blow, it sharpens it. For example, a family posing on a captive elephant isn’t just funny—it’s chilling. Similarly, tourists crammed onto boats in Capri (page 12) look less like holidaymakers and more like participants in an ecological farce.

Why Global Warning Matters in 2026

In a year already saturated with environmental anxiety and digital burnout, Martin Parr Global Warning feels prophetic. It doesn’t offer solutions. Instead, it offers reflection. More importantly, it holds up a warped mirror to a world still smiling while sinking.

If the future looks like a summer vacation, will we even realize it’s ending?

Exhibition Details:
Jeu de Paume, Paris
January 30 – May 24, 2026
Tickets: 14€ full, 7.50€ students, free under 18
Curated by Quentin Bajac with Martin Parr & Clémentine de la Féronnière

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Contemporary Photography Humor – Paris Photo 2025