Martin Parr’s ‘No Smoking’ Photo Book Captures a World of Smokers
LONDON — The British photographer and photojournalist Martin Parr has always preferred the company of smokers despite not being able to fully commit to the habit himself.
Ironically, his new book “No Smoking” is all about smoking.
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The idea of the book came from Sid Stephenson, the son of Jonathan Stephenson, the founder of London’s Rocket gallery and the publisher of the book, which dives into Parr’s extensive Magnum Photos’ archive between 1970 to 2019.
Parr’s archive spans over 56,000 images, of which only a couple thousand feature cigarettes. Stephenson, who edited the book, picked out 73 images, some in full color, others in black and white.
There are photographs of old ladies smoking; men drinking in pubs with cigarettes; cigarette butts disposed in men’s urinals, and armed officers taking puffs in North Korea.
“Sid showed me the images and Bob’s your uncle, there we are,” the photographer said in an interview.
The book launched at the Paris Photo Fair last week, where all 250 copies had sold out.
“There’s going to be a reprint very quickly and it seems to have caught people’s imagination and it’s doing very well,” said Parr.
The photographer likes it when people are smoking in his photographs, saying “it just adds another little layer and another thing to spot.”
“Sometimes [smoking] can be a big part of a picture and sometimes it’s just there in the background. It’s not like every photo I’ve taken is of people smoking. It’s not even something I was conscious of until Sid came up with the idea,” Parr explained.
The photographer’s fascination with smoking started early on, when cigarettes were an accepted part of society, even in restaurants and on airplanes.
Parr would always go and sit in the smoking part of airplanes because “you just get more interesting people. In other words, smokers can be more interesting.”
“I always enjoyed the people I met at the back of the plane, even if I wasn’t smoking myself,” he said.
“No Smoking” comes at a topical time in Britain.
Smoking is a habit that’s hard to kick for Britain‘s new government.
The Labour government can’t resist the allure of a tobacco and vaping tax. They have also quietly shelved a previously mooted ban on smoking in outdoor spaces such as pub gardens, restaurant terraces, university campuses and even on pavements.
It’s doubtful the planned tax increases will urge anyone to change their minds about smoking.
When Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer took office, he was vehemently anti-smoking, but quickly changed his mind after pushback from the hospitality industry, and the promise of tax receipts from cigarette lovers and vapers alike.
In the latest government budget, unveiled on Oct. 30, the government upped the tax on tobacco by 2 percent, and by 10 percent for hand-rolled tobacco. Meanwhile, each 10-ml. dose of e-cigarette liquid will cost 2.20 pounds more from October 2026.
“I sympathize with not allowing smoking outside hospitals, but I think for a pub garden, that is crazy to try and stop it. But they’ve rescinded on that now,” said Parr.
Now that one book has been published using the photographer’s archives, there could be more on the horizon.
“I’ve been photographing nonstop for 55 years, so if I wanted to do a book on dogs or cats, I could do that tomorrow, no problem. You name it and I’ve got it,” said Parr.
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