Peter Marlow: A Life in Pictures
Magnum Photographers pay homage to the work of their late colleague Peter Marlow, who died in 2016
“I have walked that street many a time - I know exactly how the sheep and Peter must have felt.” - David Hurn
“Remembering Peter Marlow, I surf through his work: his images, one after another speak of a journey uncluttered and uncomplicated. Peter had the knack of picking up a moment so instinctively, with the immediacy of responding to it right now, as if the next step or choice would contaminate its silence. For instance, in this photograph of two sheep, it is as if they were designed to be walking on the edge of the pavement with all the architectural lines leading us into a quiet dynamism. You may recompose it differently, but the simplicity and silence of it all will remind us of a mystery: that he came and went away so suddenly. ”- Raghu Rai © Peter Marlow | Magnum Photos
When I first met Peter he was a top rate photojournalist, before he found his more personal voice. I (...)
"I never saw my own kids grow up. Peter was a great photographer but also a very dedicated father. I (...)
”I have always been able to identify a lot with Peter’s fascination (...)
“This was the first image I saw by Peter, I loved it, and still do; it has this hyperrealism to it, I can watch this image for (...)
“Peter’s photographs are succinct and quietly, but surely, pierce through the surface. The Liverpool series is my favorite - painfully beautiful.” - Alessandra Sanguinetti © Peter Marlow | Magnum Photos
“Looking through Peter's work I was amazed at the elegance, restraint and craft in his photographs: a ref (...)
"I find it difficult to take out one picture from the beauti (...)
“I was not even aware of this image and fully expected to choose something from his more recent work with which I was more familiar. But when I saw this image I was reminded of what I knew and respected about Peter: intelligence, humor and dignity. I feel honored to have been in the company of Peter as a colleague. But I feel far more fortunate to be able to call him a friend. Miss you, Peter.” - Chris Anderson
“I feel that this image is a reflection of Peter's consistently gentle yet sharp observation. No matter what the photograph’s format or proportion might be, Peter got it inside out!” - Chien-Chi Chang © Peter Marlow | Magnum Photos
Watching Liverpool FC lose 1-0 to Manchester United. Anfield, England, GB. December 1986.
”When I started photography, I discovered the work of Peter Marlow in the Swiss magazine ‘Cam (...)
The demolition of what was once the largest grain silo in the world. Brunswick Dock, Liverpool, England, GB. August. 1990.
“I will always be grateful of how welcoming Peter was since (...)
A fish and chip stall inside the New Brighton fair. Liverpool, England, GB. August. 1990.
“This picture of a fish and chips stall in Liverpool typifies Peter’s daily life style of pho (...)
Cafe with a painting of the Concorde. Lydd airport, Kent, GB. 2001.
“Peter was most at ease with the square format of which he became a master, so much so that his online Magnum port (...)
Concorde memorabilia at Christmas. England, GB. 2003.
"The Concorde gave off a sense of perfection. No wonder Peter was seduced by it: it matched his own desire of precision; it fitte (...)
Max putting on his sun cream. Peter Marlow and family on holiday. Galicia, Spain. 2003.
“While I’ve always admired Peter’s work, it was only after his passing that I became familiar w (...)
I’ve always loved Peter’s family pictures. It’s as if he was trying to preserve the people in his life who were most precious to him, while celebrating those precious morsels of time spent together. In 2007 I was charged with assessing Peter’s work for the Magnum Magnum book. It was an intimidating task because, as I was soon to learn, Peter had more pictures in Magnum’s archive than anyone else. I spent several weeks looking through every picture, searching backwards, beginning with the most recent and ending at the start of his career. It was a strange experience watching Fiona, Max, Theo and Felix grow younger, the children eventually ceasing to exist altogether. At certain ages the boys looked exactly the same, history seemingly repeating itself thrice over. Peter was a much-underrated photographer and I trust that in his (tragically early) passing he will finally get the recognition he deserves. But we can be sure, looking at his wonderful family photographs, that he was a never an underrated father.” - Mark Power © Peter Marlow | Magnum Photos
Students without their own electricity have to revise in public places during the evenings. Port au Prince, Haiti. 1975.
“Last year I got a call from the office asking me to substitut (...)
Max (12yrs.) and Felix (7 yrs.) play fighting on holiday with Peter Marlow on holiday. Norfolk Broads, England, GB.
“Peter has an archive of many powerful photographs taken on projec (...)
Longbridge Rover Plant. Birmingham, England, GB. 2006.
”In 2005, Peter had this great idea about photographing the Rover car plants in Birmingham, which had been dismantled and the ma (...)
A family holiday in Greece. Peter Marlow with his partner Fiona Naylor and their children, Max (14yrs.), Felix (9yrs.) and Theo (4yrs.). Zakynthos, Greece. 2008.
“How do you codify s (...)
Coventry Cathedral (St Michael’s). from 'The English Cathedral', a Book published by Merrell in October 2012. Between 2010 and 2012 Peter Marlow photographed the Nave's of all forty-two of Engl (...)
“The night after Coventry was decimated by incendiary devices dropped by the Luftwaffe on November 14, 1940, the decision was made by church leaders to rebuild the cathedral. This act of courage led to the cathedral's ministry of peace and reconciliation, which continues to this day. This photograph of a modern sacred space, by Peter, is a tribute and testament to the resilience of the British people, and especially the people of faith in Coventry.” - Steve McCurry © Peter Marlow | Magnum Photos
Salisbury Cathedral (Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary), from 'The English Cathedral', a book published by Merrell in October 2012. England, GB. 2012.
“Peter is one of the (...)
Opening presents on Christmas morning with Peter Marlow's family at The Experimental Station, the family weekend home. Dungeness, Kent, England, GB. 2008.
“I don’t know how to put it, (...)
The architect Zaha Hadid. London, England, GB. 2006.
”As I was browsing through Peter's work in search of a favorite, I came across his portrait of the Iraqi-British architect Zaha Ha (...)
The view from Mont St. Michel on a family holiday. Normandy, France. 2006.
“In Peter’s family photographs I find a warmth and intimacy on a wholly other level. I wish I’d appreciated (...)
Dungeness. Kent, GB.
”I always saw Peter as something of a father figure in Magnum, both for myself coming in as a young photographer - lending equipment, teaching me how to deal wit (...)
Felix Naylor Marlow in Fiona's high heels. Gee Street, London, GB. 2005.
”Since Peter died I have been digging through his pictures in Cortex. In a way he was among the photographers (...)
Concorde landing, after the BA002 flight from New York, prior to the aircraft retiring from service in October 2003. Heathrow Airport, London, GB.
“For over forty years Peter has play (...)
'MOBYThe Movie'. Peter Marlow used a Super-8 movie camera during this portrait shoot, in the garden of the Hempel Hotel, to photograph the American Rockstar Moby, in London to promote his ne (...)
'MOBY...The Movie'. Peter Marlow used a Super-8 movie camera during this portrait shoot, in the garden of the Hempel Hotel, to photograph the American Rockstar Moby, in London to promote his new album '18'. His previous album 'Play' sold over ten million copies worldwide. Stills from the Super-8 film have been blown-up to create this unusual selection of images. London, England, GB. 2002.
“My introduction to Peter Marlow, when I was starting out as a photographer, was through his work on Liverpool and later I felt a connection to those beautiful photos of his family. Although, I had met him only briefly for a moment at the AGM in 2015, I had never really gotten to know him. Whatever I could make up of him as a person was based solely on all that I had heard from the few people working at the London office who knew him and who spoke very highly of him, and, of course, his quiet and gentle demeanour that seemed to somehow organically extend into the way he looked at the world. All of that had helped me construct a personality, though a fictional one, through which I could only guess what he must have been like. But because he was about my father's age I had completely forgotten to think of him as being cool. After all, why would anyone who even vaguely reminded me of my father ever be cool? That is, until I found his portraits of Moby, the ones on the super 8's. I absolutely love them. They may not be beautiful like his other work in the traditional sense but in some ways they are even more special to me because, for someone who had long developed a particularly beautiful and elegant structure within which he had shown us the world, I loved the fact that Peter wasn't restricted by those very structures.” - Sohrab Hura © Peter Marlow | Magnum Photos
In the Alps near Chamonix. Argentiere, France. 2001.
“Peter and Fiona and their 3 sons spent Christmas holiday with us in 2001 near Chamonix, in the French Alps. He took that photogra (...)
Marlow’s son, Max, who was then six years old, plays in his pyjamas, with some pebbles and makes a 'heart' shape on the deck at the 'Loft' apartment of Peter Marlow and Fiona Naylor in the Cler (...)
“Looking through Peter's archive I was touched by his images of his own family, living and growing up in Gee Street. Images I have never seen before. This image was taken at his home just above the Magnum office that he invested so much in. Just on top of the office - all this love for his family. So Human. Thank you Peter.” - Jacob Aue Sobol © Peter Marlow | Magnum Photos
The hotel staff bow to leaving visitors. Because competition is so fierce, hotels try to be as hospitable as possible. Wakayama Project. Japan. 1998.
“I’ve always loved this picture, (...)
A view over shingle, the largest expanse of it in Western Europe. Romney Marsh, Dungeness, Kent, GB. 1996.
”Des traces, le vent, le silence. Parfois, au détour d’une association d’idé (...)
Peter Marlow. Cornwall, GB. 1989.
“Looking through his archive again, it is clear that Peter has so many great photographs from before and after I met him. So it is too hard to choose. (...)
Scavenger on his way home with a bag full of copper wire to weigh in at a local scrap yard at Bidston Moss tip, Birkenhead. Liverpool, GB. April, 1985.
“Here's the cover image from Pe (...)
A burnt-out children's playground. Childwall Valley, Liverpool, GB. December, 1985.
”I’ve always liked and admired this image from a great take Peter did on Liverpool. Although, in re (...)
Sheil Road market on a Sunday morning. Liverpool, England, GB. January, 1988.
”I met Peter only once, but his warmth and integrity made a strong impression on me. In his work from Li (...)
Tony and Marie, unemployed, in their children's bedroom. Heathfield Road, Tower Hill, Kirkby, Liverpool, GB. October, 1985.
”Like all of us I am still shocked at Peter's passing. When (...)
”I chose this picture because I think family meant a lot for Peter who was often photographing his own family or that of the others. Peter Marlow dedicated himself a lot to Magnum, another family. I remember something he told me once, after I took distance from Magnum for a while: ‘Come back home’.” - Patrick Zachmann © Peter Marlow | Magnum Photos
As part of a project sponsored and exhibited by The Photographer's Gallery to photograph London by Night, Peter Marlow chose as his main focus ‘The Isle of Dogs', in the London Docklands. Many (...)
“In 1982 (before he shifted to the square format), Peter showed me this set of pictures of London by night and I really liked them. Peter had left news photography behind and this project seemed to me at the time a radical shift and an attempt at describing his emotional landscape.” - Gilles Peress © Peter Marlow | Magnum Photos
Public space on The Isle of Dogs. London, GB. 1982.
“Many years ago, Peter Marlow showed me some of his prints from the Isle of Dogs. At the time, I only knew his journalistic work, (...)
A prisoner at HM Prison Risley is visited by friends and family. With writer Russell Miller, in 1981, the British Home office gave Peter Marlow permission for the first time ever to photograph (...)
Students watching the Eton Wall Game, a vigorous hybrid of rugby union and football played since 1766 on Ascension Day, between two opposing teams of students. Eton School, Windsor, GB.
(...)
”Peter’s choice of camera and the square format is rare among Magnum photographers. But Peter liked simplicity and he had a very special sense of humor. He saw things most people would ignore in daily life. His sparse compositions will not trigger loud laughter but a warm smile. His pictures are unique.” - Thomas Hoepker © Peter Marlow | Magnum Photos
A soldier of the 3rd Anglian Regiment stands guard over an inter-regiment cricket match at Hollywood Barracks near Belfast. Ten years after the arrival of British troops in the province, the b (...)
”My passion in life other than photography is cricket, and indeed most cricketers are passionate about the game. In cricket, Peter and I had shared a common interest, which is why I chose this photograph of Peters. No matter what the circumstances, park cricketers always seem to find a way to keep on playing. Strange, surreal, yet absolutely necessary. Great innings live long in the memory, and judging by the incredible experiences and subsequent photographs Peter packed into his life, his work will continue to live on long in our memories. Aside from his work, Peter was just an all round great bloke.” - Trent Parke © Peter Marlow | Magnum Photos
A wasteland on the Isle of Dogs, created from the mud removed during the building of the London Docks. Isle of Dogs, London, GB.
”Here’s one image I was thinking of to remember Peter (...)
Chloe Marlow and Peter Marlow. Tuscany, Italy. 1993.
"Peter and I on another road trip through Italy. At the end of this train journey we arrived in Grosseto to find all the hotels (...)
Following the sudden and tragic passing of Magnum photographer Peter Marlow in February, Magnum hosted a memorial exhibition celebrating his life and work. Curated by Peter’s colleagues and friends in the Magnum membership, the exhibition spans his early work as a photojournalist in Haiti, his seminal photographs from ‘Liverpool: Looking Out to Sea’ and his lifelong commitment to documenting his family. Each photograph was selected by his friends and colleagues, with comments from each shedding light on how his practice affected theirs, intertwined in their lives.
Chris Steele-Perkins writes, “This selection of photographs was made by Peter’s fellow photographers in Magnum from his enormous and varied archive. They are from various stages in his career and illuminate various aspects of his personality. They are photographs that have special meaning for the photographers who write eloquently about their reasons for choosing these images.”
Peter Marlow was an internationally recognised photographer, and a member of Magnum Photos since 1980. Although gifted in the language of photojournalism, Peter Marlow was not a photojournalist. He was initially, however, one of the most enterprising and successful young British news photographers, and in 1976 joined the Sygma agency in Paris.
He soon found that he lacked the necessary appetite for the job while on assignment in Lebanon and Northern Ireland during the late 1970s; he discovered that the stereotype of the concerned photojournalist often disguised the disheartening reality of dog- eat-dog competition between photographers hunting fame at all costs.
In the early 80s, his work shifted in style and tone as, often shooting in colour, he concentrated on portraiture and extended documentary projects. In 1981 he shot what is now considered an iconic portrait of Margaret Thatcher at the Conservative party conference in Blackpool, and in the 90s he worked in a long-term collaboration with Tony Blair as New Labour rose to power.
An ever thoughtful photographer, Marlow also created personal images that possessed a quiet, lingering power, based on close observation of the subject. One of his most well known series is Liverpool: Looking Out to Sea, for which he spent eight years in the 80s and 90s photographing the city’s declining inner heart and docklands.
Marlow had come full circle. He started his career as an international photojournalist, returned to Britain to examine his own experience, and discovered a new visual poetry that enabled him to understand his homeland. Having found this poetry, he took it back on the road: he photographed as much in Japan, the USA and elsewhere in Europe as he did in the UK.
Fellow photographer Martin Parr said of his work: “As well as being a fine photographer… It is difficult to overestimate Peter’s contribution to Magnum over the years”.
Peter Marlow died in London on 21st February 2016 from influenza contracted during a stem cell transplant.
“Together these photographs start to reflect on and celebrate a life well lived, and also underline the loss of a complex, energetic, talented and compassionate man whose death came far to soon,” writes Chris Steele-Perkins.
Click into the caption of each image to read the written contributions and reflections from Peter’s colleagues and friends.