My first encounter with the work of the British photographer Simon Marsden was through the fascinating (German) book “Geistersuche”. It contains many mysterious, sometimes creepy photos and accompanying stories about old castles, desolated buildings and other ghostlike places, from Ireland to Transsilvania…
After a nice introduction follow five chapters: Ireland, England/Scotland/Wales, France, Germany and finally Rumania. In total Marsden has photographed and described 30 different haunted places and supernatural phenomena.
I was instantly intrigued by the effects of light and darkness in his work. Simon Marsden is specialized in capturing the fantastic and the supernatural in his powerful black and white images. Either he uses spectacular filters or the photos have been digitally enhanced, because they look just as supernatural as thier subjects. This is absoluty a stunning book. Great large-format photos and highly interesting stories about the darkest corners of our continent. It can’t get more gothic than this.
Simon Marsden writes on his website: “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.”
