“Small World” at the Galerie Clémentine de la Féronnière on the Île Saint-Louis, nestled away from the Parisian frenzy yet at its very heart, chronicles Martin Parr’s lifelong fascination with mass tourism. Admission is free, until 30 May.
Pigment print, 100 x 150 cm – Edition of 5
A beach so impossibly crowded the sand has given up trying to be visible. A cow among the bathers. A postcard kiosk on a Swiss ski slope, wedged between two passing skiers as naturally as if it had grown there. At a time when we routinely question whether an image has been generated or captured, Parr’s photographs offer a different kind of disbelief: not suspicion, but astonishment. The world composing itself into a perfect frame, and one extraordinarily sharp eye knowing exactly when to press the shutter. The series takes you on a journey through the world as mass tourism has remade it.
Few artists leave us with two Parisian exhibitions opening simultaneously, both conceived by themselves. Martin Parr did. Global Warning at the Jeu de Paume spans five decades of his work and runs until 24 May; Small World at the Galerie Clémentine de la Féronnière until 30 May. Both were built in direct collaboration with the photographer, who passed away in December 2025.
Gallerist Clémentine de la Féronnière had spent years as an art book editor before founding her gallery and publishing house Maison CF on the Île Saint-Louis in 2011. She is not only the driving force behind Small World but also co-curator of Global Warning alongside Quentin Bajac. What hangs on these walls is exactly what he intended, and what she worked to preserve. You reach the gallery through the bookshop, every shelf and every wall given over to Parr, books stacked, images pinned in every direction, a world unto itself before you have faced a single print. Then the cobbled courtyard, and the glass-fronted room where the journey begins.
Small World – Galerie Clémentine de la Féronnière – Until 30 May.
Reuben Attia
