Dark Tales: British Documentary Photography and the Gothic

With images spanning a period of more than 80 years depicting Britain from the post-war to the present era, Dark Tales explores the complex relationship between the Gothic and British documentary photography. The photographs in the exhibition, on display at Martin Parr Foundation from 17 September - 20 December, reveal waning industrial powers, claustrophobic domestic scenes, and menacing nocturnal activities, and includes work by Kjell-Åke Andersson, Bill Brandt, Anna Fox, Robert Frank, Don McCullin, Lee Miller, John Myers, Akihiko Okamura, Sue Packer, Charlie Philips, Sarah Pickering, Alice Poyzer, Jo Spence, Janine Wiedel and Donovan Wylie amongst others.

Dark Tales brings together a selection of celebrated images alongside some lesser-known photographs. They were primarily selected from over 5000 prints in the Martin Parr Foundation collection by curator Isaac Blease. The emerging, playful narrative shows a resilient yet haunted place. It illustrates photography’s role in visualising emotions such as fear and fascination while amplifying the Gothic principle that horror thrives in proximity to the familiar.

‘From its inception, photography has been a medium used to record the troubled, political, moral and social issues that have unsettled the modern world: a certain darkness creeps throughout its histories. As Gothic authors of the 18th and 19th centuries conveyed anxieties through the mode of fiction, photographers have reflected the darkness of their times through images of the real world; creating artworks that invoke within us a similar sense of terror and wonder at the tangible and psychological realities depicted.

Interest in the Gothic resurfaces during times of uncertainty, and documentary photography itself is in a dark moment, with its purpose and role in question, public distrust of ‘photographers’, and the existential threat posed by Artificial Intelligence. This moment of turmoil presents intriguing conditions to explore the Gothic imagination as a relevant lens through which to re-examine the medium, while also reveling in the ambiguity of images and the multitude of meanings they evoke.’ - Isaac Blease, Curator.

The exhibition is divided into four enigmatically titled chapters: The Castle, Domestic Bliss, Double Take, and Night Creatures. Kjell-Åke Andersson and Janine Wiedel’s depictions of heavy industry reveal human fragility against the rhythms of production. In Domestic Bliss, Anna Fox’s Pete’s Food and Flowers offers a quiet yet poignant portrayal of PTSD in the home, while Derek Ridgers’ photographs of the Bat Cave in the chapter Night Creatures capture one of the birthplaces of British Goth culture.

‘“Documentary” is a less than perfect term, but it is a pillar for a shared understanding. Some artists in the exhibition firmly work within this tradition, whereas others actively contest and subvert the norms of the documentary mode. One of the main points of this exhibition has been to lead with a visual search in conjuring an atmosphere, regardless of different standpoints.’ - Isaac Blease, Curator.

Dark Tales features the work of Bill Brandt; Kjell-Åke Andersson; Keith Arnatt; Bill Brandt; John Bulmer; Jim Dow; Anna Fox; Robert Frank; Colin Jones; Clive Landen; Don McCullin; Lee Miller; Peter Mitchell; John Myers; Akihiko Okamura; Sue Packer; Martin Parr; Gilles Peress; Vinca Petersen; Charlie Phillips; Sarah Pickering; Alice Poyzer; Derek Ridgers; Chris Shaw; Graham Smith; Jem Southam; Jo Spence; Janine Wiedel; and Donovan Wylie.

To accompany Dark Tales: British Documentary Photography and the Gothic, Martin Parr Foundation is partnering with the nearby Arnos Vale Cemetery to present Darkroom by Michel Campeau in their Anglican Chapel Crypt, also on display 17 SEPT - 20 DEC. In this work, Campeau’s large-scale photographs reflect on the mortality of the photographic medium through his intimate depictions of analogue darkrooms, located just 8 minute’s walk from Martin Parr Foundation.

Both Dark Tales and Darkroom are part of the Bristol Photo Festival 2026 programme.

About The Martin Parr Foundation

Martin Parr Foundation supports emerging, established and overlooked photographers who have made, and continue to make, work focussed on Britain and Ireland. The Foundation runs a programme of events, workshops and exhibitions in their gallery and event space. It holds a growing collection of significant photographic books, book dummies, prints, magazines and the archive of Martin Parr. The Foundation strives to make photography engaging and accessible for all and to reflect the diversity of British and Irish culture.