Black Country Stories

Over the last four years Martin Parr has been working on a commission for Multistory photographing the Black Country. It was an area he knew little of, other than its reputation as a densely populated, post-industrial area; one in decline. Many of the industries that once made the Black Country great have declined, but numerous small factories and manufacturing businesses remain in good health. A degree of regeneration has also come as a result of the many immigrant communities that have made the Black Country their home. The region is now populated with many different communities – Polish, Sikh and Somali to name but a few.