Oscar Marzaroli (1933 – August 26, 1988) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

-born Scottish

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographers As in oth ...

of post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

urban

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. He was born in Castiglione Vara in northwest

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and came to Scotland with his family at the age of two. Marzaroli had a career in

photojournalism Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and

Stockholm Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropo ...

. He also operated as a photographer on the streets of

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...

and became famed for his iconic images of the city in the 1960s.Whatever happened to the Castlemilk Lads?
Peter Ross, ''The Scotsman'', 24 June 2012 He was best known for his images of the

Gorbals The Gorbals is an area in the city of Glasgow, Scotland, on the south bank of the River Clyde. By the late 19th century, it had become densely populated; rural migrants and immigrants were attracted by the new industries and employment opportun ...

area as the bulldozers cleared away the streets of the run down tenements.Oscar Marzaroli: Photographer's first major show in 30 years captures social change in Glasgow
The Scotsman, 21 November 2019 Marzaroli's work came to national attention in the 1980s with the publication of three collections of his photographs by the

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

publishing house Mainstream. He was also a film cameraman, as well as director and producer, for Ogam Films, which he founded with three friends in 1967. Gorbals Boys sculpture (geograph 5520101)

Gorbals Boys sculpture (geograph 5520101)

In 1991, a number of Glaswegian musicians came together to help compile a tribute album entitled ''The Tree and the Bird and the Fish and the Bell'' (the title is inspired by the coat of arms of the city of

). The rock band

Deacon Blue Deacon Blue are a Scottish pop rock band formed in Glasgow during 1985. The line-up of the band consists of vocalists Ricky Ross and Lorraine McIntosh, keyboard player James Prime and drummer Dougie Vipond. The band released their debut albu ...

, who contributed to the album, had already extensively used Marzaroli's photographs on their album and single covers. In the same year Marzaroli was also the subject of an ITV documentary. A website of his prints has since been set up by his family. The Gorky's Zygotic Mynci song ''Reverend Oscar Marzaroli'' is a tribute of sorts. One of his photographs from 1963, depicting young boys playing dress-up with high-heeled shoes in the streets of the Gorbals, was recreated as a sculpture in 2008 as part of the second regeneration of the district (the tenements he captured in images were replaced by

tower blocks A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, residential tower, apartment block, block of flats, or office tower is a tall building, as opposed to a low-rise building and is defined differently in terms of height depending on the jurisdicti ...

in projects such as

Hutchesontown C Hutchesontown C was a Comprehensive Development Area (CDA) of an area of Hutchesontown, a district in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. Its centrepiece were two Brutalist 20-storey slab blocks at 16-32 Queen Elizabeth Square, designed by Sir Basil ...

, which themselves were demolished by the end of the century).Gorbals, Glasgow - Origins and History
Scotcities

Books

* Shades of Grey – Glasgow 1956-1987, 1987 *''Shades of Scotland 1956-1988'', 1989 *''Glasgow's People 1956-1988'', 1993 *''One Afternoon in Lisbon'' by Kevin McCarra and Pat Woods (Photographs by Oscar Marzaroli).

References

External links

Interview with Oscar Marzaroli by Jennie RentonNational Library of Scotland: Scottish Screen Archive
(Biography of Ogam Films / Oscar Marzaroli with links to film details and clips) {{DEFAULTSORT:Marzaroli, Oscar 1933 births 1988 deaths Scottish photographers Italian photographers Italian emigrants to the United Kingdom Gorbals