Parking Spaces

Chris Boot, 2007. Hardcover. Good. Limited edition of 1000 copies. Copy 453/1000. Signed and numbered in pencil on gilt-edged laid-in limitation placard by Parr. Hardcover. Padded white faux suede-covered boards with title foil-stamped in gold on cover and spine, no dust jacket as issued; contained in a matching white faux suede-covered lidded box with title foil-stamped in gold on cover. Photographs by Martin Parr. Design by S.M.I.T.H. 88 pp., with 63 four-color plates. The book measures 13-3/4 x 10-1/4 inches; the outer box is 14-3/8 x 10-7/8 inches. Between 2002-2007, Martin Parr photographed the last remaining open parking space in crowded lots in 41 countries. Highly coveted real estate in today's automobile dependent society, the last parking space emblematizes good luck and the reward for a driver's tenacity. Parr's deadpan images, presented with captions (in elegant italic script) listing only the city in which the photograph was taken, convey a mock documentary feel, the gravity of which is satirized and undermined by the sumptuous and inviting design of the book itself, which mimics none other than a wedding announcement for the marriage of driver, vehicle, and a place to park, if only temporarily.