“The pictures from The Last Resort still hold very well. When I get to the Pearly Gates, those are the ones I’d probably get out first!”
— Martin Parr

Following the death of Martin Parr on 6 December, MPF Gallery will open its 2026 programme with a major exhibition dedicated to one of his most iconic and influential bodies of work, The Last Resort.
Photographed between 1983 and 1985 in the English seaside town of New Brighton, The Last Resort stands as a pioneering achievement in British colour documentary photography. The series marked a decisive turning point in Parr’s career, establishing his distinctive visual language and securing his position as one of the most influential photographers of his generation.
“This exhibition allows us to reintroduce visitors to one of Martin’s seminal bodies of work. The Foundation felt it was important to mark Martin’s death whilst celebrating his remarkable career and legacy,” says Jenni Smith, Director of the Martin Parr Foundation.
The exhibition will present the complete set of photographs from the original photobook, first published in 1986 by Martin Parr under Promenade Press. The new presentation coincides with the 40th anniversary of both the book’s publication and the landmark exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery in London.
In addition to exhibition prints, the show will feature a rich selection of archival material and ephemera, including contact sheets, reference materials that influenced Parr during the making of the work, and the original Plaubel Makina 67 camera he used to photograph the series. A selection of images not included in the original book will also be on display.

Reflecting on the series, Susie Parr recalls:
“Having been very fond of Martin’s more elegiac black and white work in Hebden Bridge and Ireland, the brash colour of his images was a shock. But I could see that it was an extraordinary body of work. When the show opened at the Open Eye Gallery in Liverpool in the winter of 1985, guests dressed appropriately, with rain hats, swimming costumes, lilos and pac-a-macs. No one batted an eyelid at the images: that was what New Brighton was like. It is a well-documented fact that the response to the show at the Serpentine was rather different.”