Arcadia Discussion Zone

The photographer Sir Simon Marsden, 4th Bt, has recently died. He's best known for his very atmospheric black and white photographs on often eerie themes, such as graveyards, ruined monuments and haunted places, a subject he was much interested in. In his own words:



His full obituary is here:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituar ... en-Bt.html

I was interested to read that two of his major influences growing up were the occult writers MR James, and also Arthur Machen, who I've been reading quite a bit of, and enjoying, recently (some rate his novella "The Great God Pan", 1894, as the finest occult story ever written; I particularly like "The Shining Pyramid", 1895).

Anyway, that's a bit of a digression onto Machen, but with regard to the late Simon Marsden, he took some incredible pictures, and had a real affinity for this sort of subject matter.

This is his website ...
http://www.simonmarsden.co.uk/

... from where one gets to the Marsden Archive, which is well worth looking through if you like atmospheric pictures of spooky places, with pictures from all around the world, grouped under headings such as "Arcane Arches and Decorative Doorways", "Gnarled Trees and Forbidding Woods" and "Mysterious Landscapes and Stormy Skies"; a great collection of photos that shows the enduring value of black and white photography.

http://www.marsdenarchive.com/

Thanks for this Richard - and even including a photo of the Tour Magdala...and the devil in the church, and Puivert, and...fabulous collection.

That's lovely Richard but sad.

Thanks for this Richard! Re: Machen - have you read "The Hill of Dreams"? I have always loved that story and have returned to it many times. Available here for free:

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13969

No, but I will, thank you, that looks really good. I just downloaded it. I do like the way he writes, and his vivid descriptions, particularly of landscapes. Ahead of his time, I think, from the little I've read of him thus far, both in terms of the subject matter he covers, but also the way he writes, even though it may sound a bit antique to our twenty-first century ears, but stylistically very interesting. He's been a major influence on later writers of supernatural horror stories, including Stephen King and Peter Straub. The latter's 1970s "Ghost Story" (his best book, imo) definitely has strong echoes of "The Great God Pan".

as you say returned ... reminds me of Machen's "Great Return".

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/35611

Que linda. Real fun to read.

I had a quick look at the Marsden site photos...the one of Moydrum Castle seemed familiar - yes it's on the cover of the U2 album The Unforgettable Flame.

From Arthur Machen's "The Hill of Dreams", Chapter One:



What utterly brilliant writing. Thanks again, Caelum, I just started reading this, and it's simply fantastic. That section above epitomises Machen's gift for conveying the magical, other-worldly, phantasmagorical qualities of wild landscapes set beneath vast skies, what Machen calls earlier in the piece, "straying into outland and occult territory", all written in a beautifully arcane and vivid style. You can see how he might have influenced a photographer like Simon Marsden, and yet he remains little known and under-valued, at least in his own country. Anyone with an appreciation for fiction, and fine writing, should take the time to read an Arthur Machen story.

Btw, I've had an e-mail from Amazon to say that your other literary recommendation, made recently on the Wicker Man thread - "The Serpent's Circle" by Patrick Harpur - is en-route to me, so looking forward to that as well.

I'm glad you're enjoying it Richard! It is called his "autobiography" so it isn't an entirely normal story for him, and in fact gets quite depressing, but I just love the writing. I'm working my way through the grail story Egi posted right now and I have your recommendation, "Ghost Story" on it's way from Amazon...

I hope I haven't mis-remembered how good it was (I have a tendency to do that!), it's a very long time since I read it; probably a bit over-written, but generally reckoned to be Straub's best, and he is very highly regarded in that genre of fiction. As a ghost story, I'd put it in the same sort of league as "The Shining", by his some-time collaborator Stephen King (I definitely think that's King's best book, btw), which is from the same era. Both writers have a great affinity for small town America; "Ghost Story" has a wonderful, wintry New England setting (much wasted in the very dismal film version, as was the stellar cast of elderly thesps that made up the Chowder Society).

"The Hill of Dreams" is very good indeed, although as you say, a desperately sad story as well, and he has a very bleak view of humanity at times. I'm also looking forward to reading the other tale, that Eginolf posted.