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A new exhibition of portraits by photographer Martin Parr

opened on Thursday featuring pictures of "Brexit Britain" captured

since the country voted to leave the EU, AFP reported.

The display, at London's National Portrait Gallery, spans

Parr's decades documenting the idiosyncrasies of mass culture and British

identity, and includes previously unseen portraits of celebrities.

But it is also the first chance to see his latest project:

photographs of Britons from the heartlands of anti-European Union sentiment,

shot as a divided nation prepares to depart the bloc.

Parr focused in particular on the Brexit-backing West

Midlands, Cornwall and Lincolnshire regions of England for the series.

"I'm photographing Britain all the time but when the

referendum came, I thought I must go to areas that I knew were heavily voting

for Brexit and see what was happening there," he told AFP at a preview of

the exhibition.

"It's about British identity and who we are at this

time of potential change."

Britons are pictured with their dogs, displaying patriotism

on St George's Day – an annual celebration for England's patron saint – and on

the wedding day of Prince Harry last year.

'Essence of Brexit'

In one of the most striking, a small group stand on a beach

in Cornwall in southwest England staring out to sea next to a fluttering red

flag, used on beaches to signify danger.

"It's a very good metaphor about people's fear of

immigration, the whole thing of the Brexit issue," Parr said in an

accompanying video at the exhibition.

In it he admitted feeling angry at the referendum result and

noted it provided an "incentive" to try to "capture the essence

of Brexit – whatever it was".

But the photographer told AFP what he encountered was

"business as normal" rather than some big shift.

"It's no different to what I've been photographing for

the last 35, 40 years," he said.

"There's not going to be a dramatic change,

everything's consistent – the St George's Day parade was going on before the

referendum vote."

An assortment of his earlier work is also featured in

"Only Human: Martin Parr", which runs until May 27.

They include celebrity portraits never exhibited before,

including legendary Brazilian footballer Pele resting his head on a ball and

designer Vivienne Westwood standing next to a toilet.

But most of the images stick to Parr's best-known topic: the

British at play.

"I have a love-hate relationship with the

British," Parr confided.

"I love the country... the hate is from the bigotry,

xenophobia that caused the Brexit vote.

"You can express that apparent contradiction very

effectively by photographing it."