Melissa Miles in The Drive to Archive: Conceptual documentary photobook design in Photographies (Volume 3, Issue 1, 2010) says that there is an international trend in international trend in contemporary photography that is known as Conceptual Documentary.This is a term used by Martin Parr to describe the blurring of the two genres of art photography and photo-journalism to create a more concept driven documentary rather than an assignment / editorial project.

Miles states that the term Conceptual Documentary refers to the cool, distanced and analytical approach to documentary photography that is also associated with the work of Frank Breuer (Germany), Paul Shambroom (United States), Matthew Sleeth (Australia), Hans van der Meer (the Netherlands), Raphaël Dallaporta (France) and Mathieu Pernot (France) amongst many others.

Miles says that the British Magnum photographer Martin Parr is a prominent promoter of Conceptual Documentary, and dedicated much of his curatorial programme at the 2004 Arles photography festival to this style of photography. Miles says that:

According to Parr, Conceptual Documentary photography is characterized by a desire to explore a single, often banal idea from many different angles. ...Rather than submerging themselves in dramatic events, Conceptual Documentary photographers seek out and frame their subjects according to a pre-determined idea or scheme. Processes of repetition and categorization are central to Conceptual Documentary.....The central idea is made evident over a series of photographs and there is less emphasis upon the singular photographic moment......Parr argues that Conceptual Documentary is the most pertinent form of documentary practice today because it addresses a desire for order in a visually chaotic world. In a context in which we are bombarded with thousands of images every day, Conceptual Documentary responds with an aesthetic based on careful selection, repetition and classification