Simon Neville Llewelyn Marsden was the younger son of Sir John Denton Marsden, 2nd Bt, and his wife Hope (née Llewelyn).
The baronetcy was created in 1924 for a previous John Marsden, owner of a substantial fishing fleet in Grimsby.
Marsden attended Ampleforth College in North Yorkshire, as well as the University of Sorbonne.
From 1969, he worked as an assistant to Irish photographer Ruan O'Lochlainn, whose wife, Jackie Mackay, was a master printer from whom Marsden learned the skills of the darkroom.

The first of his works were published in photography periodicals at the end of the seventies.
Two grants from the Arts Council of Great Britain in 1975 and 1976 allowed Marsden to undertake extensive journeys throughout Europe, the Middle East, and the United States, photographing the architectural subjects and varied landscapes he encountered.

Marsden's particular interest was "eerie" motifs like graveyards and old ruins, as well as the legends and tales that are often connected with these places.
Yet the gloomy atmosphere of Marsden's pictures is not based on careful choice of the motifs alone, but to the same degree on Marsden's photography technique, which included the use of infrared film.

Marsden’s photographs already became world-famous and are exhibited at a large number of museums.
Marsden released various illustrated books, and completed a variety of remittance works.
The latter have, amongst other things, been used for the cover of English dark metal band Cradle of Filth's second album Dusk... and Her Embrace and Hecate Enthroned's first three releases, as well as an advertisement for the Japanese manufacturing firm Toshiba.
Simon Neville Llewelyn Marsden was the younger son of Sir John Denton Marsden, 2nd Bt, and his wife Hope (née Llewelyn). The baronetcy was created in 1924 for a previous John Marsden, owner of a substantial fishing fleet in Grimsby. Marsden attended Ampleforth College in North Yorkshire, as well as the University of Sorbonne. From 1969, he worked as an assistant to Irish photographer Ruan O'Lochlainn, whose wife, Jackie Mackay, was a master printer from whom Marsden learned the skills of the darkroom. 
The first of his works were published in photography periodicals at the end of the seventies. Two grants from the Arts Council of Great Britain in 1975 and 1976 allowed Marsden to undertake extensive journeys throughout Europe, the Middle East, and the United States, photographing the architectural subjects and varied landscapes he encountered. 
Marsden's particular interest was "eerie" motifs like graveyards and old ruins, as well as the legends and tales that are often connected with these places. Yet the gloomy atmosphere of Marsden's pictures is not based on careful choice of the motifs alone, but to the same degree on Marsden's photography technique, which included the use of infrared film.
Marsden’s photographs already became world-famous and are exhibited at a large number of museums. Marsden released various illustrated books, and completed a variety of remittance works. The latter have, amongst other things, been used for the cover of English dark metal band Cradle of Filth's second album Dusk... and Her Embrace and Hecate Enthroned's first three releases, as well as an advertisement for the Japanese manufacturing firm Toshiba.
Simon Marsden