Signed; Martin Parr - Oxford - 2017

Excellent photographs and a superb production — clothbound hardcover with an attached picture plate on the front cover — this book is exceptionally signed and dated by Martin Parr on the title page.


Parr spent two years documenting a 'hidden Oxford' with his characteristic wit and unflinching eye. Commissioned by the Bodleian Libraries and Oxford University Press, Parr’s photographs capture the quirks of university life and reveal aspects of academic communities that are rarely accessible to outsiders.

Looking behind-the-scenes at Oxford rituals, ceremonies, and traditions that still hold significance today, Parr shows students’ antics at sporting events, clubs, and societies, as well as the core university activities of research and teaching.

Oxford is a collection of around 100 photographs documenting an academic year in the life of the university. They capture the day-to-day life of the colleges and university at work and play, and the colourful and arcane rituals that make it so distinctive.

His photographs are accompanied by an extended afterword that draws on, and enriches, the photographic material and is penned by Simon Winchester, OBE, the British writer, journalist, and broadcaster.