Born in Kenilworth, England, Marlow studied psychology at Manchester University, graduating in 1974. He began his photography career in 1975 working on an Italian cruise liner in the Caribbean before joining the Sygma news agency in Paris in 1976. In the late 1970s Marlow worked in Northern Ireland and Lebanon, but soon found that the competition of photojournalism did not suit him. He returned home to Britain, and worked in Liverpool on an eight-year project, Liverpool – Looking Out To Sea.
He became associated with Magnum Photos in 1980 and became a full member in 1986. Alongside Chris Steele-Perkins, he founded Magnum's London office in 1987. He served as the agency's president twice and was vice-president numerous times. "The photographer Martin Parr said it was “difficult to overestimate” Marlow’s contribution to Magnum".
He also worked regularly for The Sunday Times in the mid-1980s. In 1991 he received an assignment from the Somme department in France to photograph Amiens. Later he began to work abroad again, travelling to Japan, the United States, and other parts of Europe. His later photography is primarily in color. Though well known for his depictions of places, Marlow also documented politics with a collaboration with Tony Blair.
Marlow died on 21 February 2016 from influenza contracted during a stem cell transplant as a treatment for multiple myeloma.
Books by Marlow
Europe on the dark side of the stars. France: Secours Populaire Francais, 1992.
Liverpool: Looking out to sea. London: Jonathan Cape/Random House, 1993. ISBN 0-224-03727-7; ISBN 0-224-03728-5.
Underground. France: Cahiers de Cinema, 1995.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Italy: Arte, 1998.
March 30 to August 05. On the conversion of Gainsborough Studios for the Almeida Theatre, UK, 2000.
Concorde: The Last Summer. London: Thames & Hudson, 2006. ISBN 978-0-500-51312-5. With a preface by A. A. Gill and an introduction by Mike Bannister.
Concorde: le dernier été. Paris: Thames & Hudson, 2006. ISBN 9782878112832. Translated by Joëlle Marelli.
The English Cathedral. London and New York: Merrell, 2012. ISBN 9781858945903. With an introduction by Martin Barnes and other text by John Goodall.
Books with others
Département Somme: regards de photographes. Amiens: Trois Cailloux, 1992. ISBN 2903082669. Photographs by Marlow, Harry Gruyaert, Jeanloup Sieff, Michel Vanden Eeckhoudt, Martine Voyeux and Hugues de Wurstemberger; prefaces by Christian Caujolle and Jacques Darras.
Way to Gods: Magunamu Foto: Kumano kodō, Santiago e no michi (WAY to GODS マグナム フォト 熊野古道 サンティアゴへの道), ed. Nagasaka Yoshimitsu (永坂嘉光). Tokyo: Kawade Kobō Shinsha, 1999. ISBN 4-309-90293-6. (Additional title on front cover: Ancient Kumano Roads and Roads to Santiago.) Contains photographs by Marlow of Kumano kodō and camino de Santiago; as well as photographs by Elliott Erwitt, Chris Steele-Perkins and Harry Gruyaert.
