West Bay was shot in the small Dorset seaside town, in the Summer of 1996. The series marks Martin Parr's first use of his now characteristic combination of ring flash and macro lens. The photographs focus on small details and strange nuances in this typically British seaside resort. The Rocket Press published West Bay in 1997 – Parr's first limited edition artists’ book in which the photographs were accompanied by specially commissioned contemporary poetry. Photographs from this series comprised Parr’s first commercial gallery show in London at Rocket Gallery.