‘I drunkenly hugged him and said I love you, Martin Parr!’ Grayson Perry, Don McCullin and more on Britain’s national photographer

With a sharp eye and saturated colours, Parr’s photographs revealed the world in all its eccentric glory. Here, his friends, peers and collaborators pay tribute to a master

Grayson Perry, artist

I’ve never really been a fanboy, but the first time I saw Martin Parr I ran up and drunkenly hugged him. I said: “I love you Martin Parr!” I couldn’t help it. He was a hero of mine. And over the years he became my best artist friend.

We were fellow travellers. He was funny, very dry and a big fan of comedy. One of the things we shared is that we both took comedy seriously. The problem with British culture, especially in the art world, is that it suffers from what I call “performative seriousness”. We tend to privilege misery. If you think of someone like Don McCullin – another great British photographer – it’s all about suffering and doom and we are being told it is very important photography. Whereas Martin’s work was funny, albeit in a very discomfiting way, which I think is why he got a lot of pushback from the British cultural establishment.

Like me, Martin was an equal-opportunities piss-taker. Nobody was safe. He travelled the entire country taking pictures, which is why I consider him to be our national photographer.