The Ocean Dome, Miyazaki, Japan, 1996. © Martin Parr/Magnum Photos
As a documentary photographer, Martin Parr gives it to you straight. He revels in the unvarnished, untony and imperfect. There’s an elegance in the bluntness of his images, which you can see in his current Time Off exhibit at London’s Rocket Gallery and in Aperture’s new beach-bag-sized edition of his photo book Life’s a Beach. The latter spotlights beach culture from all around the world, including Argentina, Italy, Latvia, Mexico, the U.S. and Japan (above). It’s a thoughtful counterpoint to typically dreamy beach-front photographs. The beachgoers here? Take a close look at the scene; they’re idling in Miyazaki’s indoor Seagaia Ocean Dome.

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