The horror world has lost a talented and influential artist with the passing of Sir Simon Marsden on January 22 2012. You might not have heard Simon Marsden’s name but it is highly likely you will have come across his photography. He used the difficult to handle medium of Infrared film to achieve a powerful and extremely effective black and white style which has since been copied but never bettered. From book covers to CDs and magazines Marsden was ubiquitous in the gothic and horror photography genre.
His published collections include The Haunted Realm, Phantoms Of The Isles, Visions Of Poe and The Twilight Hour among many others and these are all filled with evocative images of mysterious places made even more mysterious by Marsden’s supreme skill.
The Twilight Hour, a film released in 2002, further explored his fascination with all thing paranormal on location in Ireland and in particular his own beliefs.
“Ghosts are a controversial subject and most people have their own theories as to what they might be. It is not my intention to try and convince you that ghosts exist, but rather to hopefully inspire you not to take everything around you at face value; to show that what we are conditioned to believe is ‘reality’ may not be quite all that it seems, if only we take the time to inquire. It is my personal belief that the relentless advance of science and technology is robbing our world of much of its inherent mystery, and that to suppress this subconscious spirituality is dangerous. Science can explain anything away if one allows it to, just as all one’s original thoughts and beliefs as a child can be eroded by the cynicism of one’s elders.
I believe that another dimension, a spirit world, runs parallel to our own so-called ‘real’ world, and that sometimes, when the conditions are right, we can see into and become part of this supernatural domain. The mystical quality of my photographs reflects this ancient order and they attempt to reveal what is eternal.”
Simon Marsden
Thankfully his photography will live on forever and can be viewed online at the Marsden Archive.
COLIN LESLIE
1 comment
Stephen Volk says:
February 15, 2012 at 5:24 pm (UTC 0 )
A shock to hear this news. Simon’s work was remarkable and evocative. I worked briefly on a TV series of dramas to be based onthe stories collected in HAUNTED REALM, but alas, like so many projects, it was not to be.