RIP Martin Parr

Remembering a legendary tennis photographer

Dec 08, 2025

“I like tennis tournaments. That doesn’t necessarily mean that I like tennis per se,” Martin Parr told The Guardian back in 2021. Parr was a photographer for more than 50 years, documenting everything from absurdities to everyday life. The Englishman passed away on December 6th and left behind a legacy of captivating, colorful images.

Later in life, Parr took on the challenge of documenting the four major tennis tournaments, traveling to London, Melbourne, Paris, and New York City. Generally, photographers who visit sports tournaments focus on big moments on court, aiming to capture athlete’s emotion or acrobatic action shots. Parr turned his lens to the crowd.

“Wimbledon is the most interesting because of the queue and the fact that people camp all night. Melbourne’s good as well. Lots of social activity. Always very hot. People carry little fans to cool down,” he told The Guardian. “I can’t say that Roland Garros is the least interesting, but it probably is. Too much tennis for my liking. They take it very seriously there.”

After visiting tournaments and snapping crowds, we were blessed with, Match Point, a photo book where he compiled photos from tournaments.

Here’s some of Parr’s work in rememberance: