Review: Waiting for the Magic: The Photography of Oscar Marzaroli

Photographer Oscar Marzaroli was born in Castiglione Vera, Italy, in 1933, and came to Scotland with his family at the age of two. He studied at Glasgow School of Art and was subsequently a photo-journalist in Stockholm and London before returning to Glasgow in 1959. Although best known for his acclaimed and evocative photographs of Glasgow in the 1960s (above), he was also a film cameraman, and directed more than 70 times for Ogam Films, a company he co-founded in 1967. He died in 1988.

This book celebrates Marzaroli’s extraordinary talent with a number of specially commissioned essays and a selection of previously unpublished photographs, as well as many of the iconic images for which he is renowned. The first section, “Europe: A Man with a Vision” highlights Oscar’s journey into photography and features figure and landscapes from Scotland and beyond. “Glasgow: A Dear Green Place” contains some of Marzaroli’s most familiar Glasgow shots, as well as many images never before published. The last section is “Marzaroli’s People”. Marzaroli’s portraits always had a purpose and a point; his empathy is apparent, as is his lack of intrusion and respect for people in their unique landscape.