Last chance to see Martin Parr Tynwald Day photos

The exhibition will run at the Manx Museum until 6 October

People have a final chance to see an exhibition of unconventional photographs documenting the Isle of Man's national day.

Photos by Martin Parr features images captured by the leading documentary photographer during the 2023 Tynwald Day celebrations.

Some of the images on display in the exhibition, which is on display at the Manx Museum until Sunday, were featured on a set of Isle of Man Post Office stamps.

Parr said he had been in talks over the project for several years, and had "plumped" for featuring Tynwald Day as "it’s such an unusual and unique occasion".

He said he chose the occasion because it of its "mixture of the sort of pomp and ceremony".

"You have all these guys with top hat, I went to the beating the retreat at the Governor’s house the night before, and then you’ve got basically a party going on," he said.

Mark Huston's beard features in the exhibition and on the stamps

One of Britain's leading documentary photographers, his work has been described as taking "an intimate, satirical and anthropological look at aspects of modern life, in particular documenting the social classes of Britain".

Reflecting on his style, he said: "The colours are bright, I often use flash even though it’s in daylight, and I get very close to people.

"I guess my work is very intuitive, so when I come to an event like this I’m looking round, I’m picking out the things that look interesting, I’m finding the people that are interesting, making the juxtapositions, and hoping that I can get some of the atmosphere that I’ve experienced into a photograph."

One of the collection’s notable pictures is of local prison officer Mark Huston who was previously awarded the accolade Beard of Mann.

Mr Huston had been attending the 2023 ceremony to parade in uniform when he was snapped by Parr.

He said the first time he became aware of the project was when the prison governor telephoned him and said "they want to put you on a stamp”.

He added that he was "more than happy" for his image to be used because "it’s not every day you end on a stamp in a country where you live".