Martin Parr

We live in a homogenized world, where it's hard to get excited when everything is slick and professional. The interesting things are the dull things.

I pride myself in being an aficionado of the British seaside. Throughout my career, I have visited and worked in many of the famous British resorts, from Great Yarmouth to Largs.

Wealthy people have not disappeared, they are just not so willing to show off their wealth.

I photograph wealth.

Fashion pictures show people looking glamorous. Travel pictures show a place looking at its best, nothing to do with the reality. In the cookery pages, the food always looks amazing, right? Most of the pictures we consume are propaganda.

The trouble with Hollywood films is that they always have a pleasant ending.

Filming is always a challenge because I'm not used to it. But I approach it head-on. I'm not technically brilliant, but it's the spirit that counts.

Of course, New Brighton is very shabby, very rundown, but people still go there because it's the place where you take kids out on a Sunday.

The thing about tourism is that the reality of a place is quite different from the mythology of it.

You can easily take photographs at a wedding - no one would question it. But funerals are different.

The ability for us to laugh at ourselves is Britain's saving grace.

I toyed with the notion of being an actor, and am so glad that this whim did not go any further.