In Pictures: How Oscar Marzaroli captured growing up in Glasgow in the 1960s

By Paul Trainer

Editor

Published 10th Jul 2024, 13:11 BST

Updated 24th Apr 2025, 09:15 BST

Oscar Marzaroli is one of the finest photographers Scotland has ever produced. His pictures of Glasgow and its people have become part of the city’s story and self-image.

Six years ago, more than 50,000 photographs taken by Oscar Marzaroli, who died in 1988 aged 55, were donated to Glasgow Caledonian University by his family. Within the staggering portfolio lies one of the most significant and fascinating collection of images capturing life in Glasgow that has ever been assembled by a single individual.

His landscapes of the industrial city bathed in glimmers of light help to evoke a place of gritty wonder. Street photography of children and young people, often captured against a backdrop of disappearing tenements and rising tower blocks in the 1960s, offer a snapshot of a changing city.

The Archive Centre at Glasgow Caledonian University has been entrusted with the Marzaroli Collection in its entirety.

Many of the images taken by Oscar Marzaroli, were in the Gorbals area as the bulldozers cleared the streets of dilapidated tenements. He also captured the false dawn of tower blocks rising in the same community.

1. Oscar Marzaroli

Many of the images taken by Oscar Marzaroli, were in the Gorbals area as the bulldozers cleared the streets of dilapidated tenements. He also captured the false dawn of tower blocks rising in the same community. | Oscar Marzaroli

Marzaroli was born in La Spezia in north west Italy in 1933 and moved to Garnethill in Glasgow with his family when aged two. He went on to work as a freelance photojournalist in Stockholm and London and spent time touring Europe before returning to Glasgow where he set up the photographic studio Studio 59 and married Anne Connelly, with whom he had three daughters – Marie Claire, Nicola and Lisa Jane. Documenting Glasgow street scenes became the backdrop to his life.

2. Oscar Marzaroli

Marzaroli was born in La Spezia in north west Italy in 1933 and moved to Garnethill in Glasgow with his family when aged two. He went on to work as a freelance photojournalist in Stockholm and London and spent time touring Europe before returning to Glasgow where he set up the photographic studio Studio 59 and married Anne Connelly, with whom he had three daughters – Marie Claire, Nicola and Lisa Jane. Documenting Glasgow street scenes became the backdrop to his life. | Oscar Marzaroli

His photographic work reached a wide audience in the 1980s when pop band Deacon Blue used two of his images on their record covers. The cover of their debut album, Raintown, was taken by Marzaroli and captured a rainy day over Glasgow’s west end with the Finnieston Crane in the background. It's his candid shots of Glasgow childhood that most capture a city that doesn't exist anymore.

3. Oscar Marzaroli

His photographic work reached a wide audience in the 1980s when pop band Deacon Blue used two of his images on their record covers. The cover of their debut album, Raintown, was taken by Marzaroli and captured a rainy day over Glasgow’s west end with the Finnieston Crane in the background. It's his candid shots of Glasgow childhood that most capture a city that doesn't exist anymore. | Oscar Marzaroli

It turned out to be prescient that Oscar took photographs in areas of the city including Anderston, Townhead and Castlemilk in the 1960s during a time of upheaval, building of new housing, clearances of tenements and the M8 carving its way through the city centre. Against this backdrop, kids were growing up in the same way they had for generations in the city.

4. Oscar Marzaroli

It turned out to be prescient that Oscar took photographs in areas of the city including Anderston, Townhead and Castlemilk in the 1960s during a time of upheaval, building of new housing, clearances of tenements and the M8 carving its way through the city centre. Against this backdrop, kids were growing up in the same way they had for generations in the city. | Oscar Marzaroli

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