A Year in the life of Chew Stoke Village

A French Language edition of this title will be made available from our partners at Maison CF in September 2022.

RRB Photobooks are delighted to present the latest publication by Martin Parr, A Year in the Life of Chew Stoke Village. This book is comprised of images from Martin's time spent in Chew Stoke in 1992 and includes text from Robert Chesshyre, from a piece originally commissioned for the Telegraph Magazine. Through the book gain an insight into the delicate social structure of Chew Stoke and the individuals who make the village what it is.

This new collaboration between RRB and Martin Parr is lavishly printed and includes over 40 previously unpublished images from the the 1992 project. A new text by Diane Smyth brings the work into a 2022 context both as documentary work and as a piece of Parr's long and varied career.

Presented as a luxurious cloth hardcover, the edition also includes 50 special edition copies. This special edition includes two 10x10" archival pigment prints, signed and limited, of the images 'Chew Stoke Bowls Club' and 'Cricket Players looking for cricket ball' (Image 2). The image are presented in a custom presentation folder and sealed in a printed box. All pre-order and special edition copies will be signed.

A Year in the Life of Chew Stoke Village is the culmination of a yearlong project in which Martin Parr immersed himself in the goings-on of a rural Somerset village on the outskirts of Bristol. At a time when house prices had fallen sharply across the country and young people were struggling to afford to stay in the village, the influx of newcomers had brought slight tensions across the community. However, during the colourful summer fete’s, the nights spent drinking at the local pub, and the many celebrations in between, Parr was able to build connections with the villagers, gaining access to all the village events over the year and an understanding of the people that live there.

Martin Parr is one of the leading documentary photographers of our time. Often described as a ‘chronicler of life’, he is renowned for capturing his unique view of society in a way that enables us to view things that seemed familiar in a completely new way. His work in Chew Stoke is just that; at first glance it may seem to be just quintessential English village life, but Parr’s images bring a sense of ‘human-ness’ to those photographed that makes it easy to form an understanding and connection to the area and the community of Chew Stoke. 

*covid regulations permitting

All image are from Chew Stoke, Somerset, England, 1992:

1) Exhibition flyer for A Year in the Life of Chew Stoke Village

2) Chew Stoke Bowls Club, Cricket Players looking for cricket ball (Special Edition Prints)

3) Picking up apples

4) Chew Stoke Cricket Club

5) Chew Stoke Bowls Club

6) Methodist Church Cream Tea

7) Cricket Players looking for cricket ball

8) Baby weighing at the Women's Institute

9) Exercise Class

10) A wedding

11) Fitness class

12) Chew Stoke Charity meeting