Inside the fascinating Yorkshire exhibition showcasing photographs of England's stunning cathedrals

All 42 images are now on display at Bradford Cathedral and there is the opportunity for visitors to place themselves in Marlow's shoes by standing in the very spot he photographed from and taking their own “portrait” using Fujifilm Instax cameras which are provided.

These instant photographs will create an interactive ever-changing display that will be shared as part of the exhibition but also on the social media channels and websites of Magnum Photos, Bradford Cathedral and the Peter Marlow Foundation to create a contemporary public response to the works.

The Very Rev Andy Bowerman, Dean of Bradford, says of the exhibition: "Marlow said that, to be alone in the cathedrals taking photographs in those early mornings – when each one gradually came to life – was a deeply spiritual experience.

"We pray that, although visitors to Bradford Cathedral are viewing the exhibition later in the day, in a different environment, that they will feel something of this spiritual depth too. It is a simple, yet profound concept, and we are excited to be hosting it."

As Marlow himself wrote of The English Cathedral, “What I thought was going to be incredibly simple became intricate, complicated and utterly absorbing. The journey was memorable and wonderfully hypnotic, a kind of reflective pilgrimage. My cathedral days involved hours of driving and thinking, with my reference Polaroids drying in the sun on the dashboard. England passed by.”

The exhibition also gives some insight into this meticulous planning as visitors can see his actual notes.

Sadly Marlow died in 2016 during treatment for cancer, leaving his partner Fiona Naylor and their three sons.

Yorkshire-born Naylor has made it her mission to ensure that his work and his legacy lives on by setting up the Peter Marlow Foundation. But if Marlow had done what his father wanted him to do, we may never have had these incredible photographic records.

"Peter was born into a Yorkshire family and they moved early on. His father was a mechanical engineer for Rolls Royce working on the Concorde engine and he wanted Peter to become a mechincal engineer like him,” says Naylor.

"But he’d always taken photographs from the age of 12 and even had his own little darkroom at home in the bathroom, but it wasn’t seen as a career.”

And so he did what his father suggested and studied mechanical engineering at the University of Manchester

"He lasted a year,” says Naylor. “He found out that you could say no to your father.” Marlow transferred to a psychology degree, but all the time he was taking photographs.

“He discovered he was very socially aware. A lot of his work is about what is happening in society and with people,” adds Nayor.

After graduating Marlow decided he wanted to pursue a career as a photojournalist, but his photography career actually began in 1975 while working on an Italian cruise liner in the Caribbean.

“He borrowed a friend’s portfolio and blagged his way on board. He took portraits of the guests and actually really enjoyed it,” says Naylor. “It was all about meeting people and that’s what he liked.”

But it was the following year that Marlow began his career as a photojournalist with Paris-based agency Sygma, where he covered events in Lebanon and Northern Ireland. He then returned to Britain to examine his home country.

Marlow embarked on an eight-year project, Liverpool – Looking out to Sea, which documented what he perceived to be decline of the city under Margaret Thatcher for which he received great acclaim. He also started applying for membership of Magnum, an international photographic co-operative owned by its photographer-members.

"It is an extremely long and difficult process to become a full member. You have to submit a portfolio which is then judged by the your peers just once a year,” says Naylor. “If they accept you, then you become a nominee member for two years and then you can apply to become an associate member by submitting another portfolio or work. After another two years you have to submit another portfolio and only then may you be accepted as a full member which lasts for life.”

Marlow went on to found the London office of Magnum and was the agency's president twice and vice-president numerous times.

"He liked the freedom it gave him to work on long individual projects but also it was about working together towards a common goal and that appealed to him greatly,” says Naylor, who met Marlow in 1989.

It was in 2008 that he was commissioned by the Royal Mail to photograph six of England’s Anglican churches.

"He’d always had fascination with cathedrals but this project just fuelled that fascination,” says Naylor., “He was determined that we should see them as the people who built them saw them, not illuminated by electric lights but in daylight. To do that he had to get up extremely early and set up his equipment before dawn so he get the sun rising through the great window and when the cathedrals were empty. It took a lot of organisation and planning. He’d never really thought of it being an exhibition he thought of them more as being in a book.”

The English Cathedral was published ten years ago, but there was also a desire to see the photographs displayed in the places where they were taken. To that end, it is touring all 42 cathedrals.

Naylor has designed the stands that frame her partner’s work without detracting from them or their beautiful surroundings.

She was also responsible for setting up the foundation in her husband’s name. “In his lifetime Peter worked all over the world and his ever thoughtful photographs deal with close observation of the physical and personal landscape that is often overlooked. His lens was always on the human and social,” she says.

“The foundation will continue in this spirit, providing a focus on social realism and people, both in the work it shares and in the activity it generates.

“The foundation encourages, examines and celebrates the photography of humanity, its impact and legacy."

A gallery is due to open in based in Dungeness, Kent, next year which will have an extensive archive and library, offering workshops, exhibitions, residencies and talks to schools, the public and professionals.

But the Peter Marlow Foundation is far more than just photography. "Peter wanted to bring people together through photography and that’s what our outreach programme is doing,” says Naylor. “We want to bring different groups of people together so that they view each other differently. It was Peter was all about.”

Peter Marlow’s The English Cathedral exhibition continues at Bradford Cathedral until October 23 and will return to Yorkshire when it visit Wakefield in April next year.

https://petermarlowfoundation.com/