A remarkable exhibition brings together a late Magnum photographer’s images of all 42 Anglican cathedrals in England, capturing their vast, often little-seen interiors entirely in natural light.

Southwark Cathedral in London, U.K. is hosting The English Cathedral, a free exhibition of photographs by renowned Magnum photojournalist Peter Marlow showing the interiors of all 42 Anglican cathedrals in England.

On view through August 31, the exhibition is organized by the Peter Marlow Foundation and presents Marlow’s photographs as architectural portraits, each taken around dawn with artificial lighting switched off. The approach allows the buildings to be seen primarily through natural light entering their vast interiors. Marlow’s photograph of Southwark Cathedral, for example, shows its Gothic interior illuminated by the early morning light, emphasizing the scale and architectural details of the historic building.

Marlow began the project in 2008 after being commissioned by the U.K.’s Royal Mail to photograph six Anglican cathedrals for commemorative stamps marking the 300th anniversary of the completion of St. Paul’s Cathedral. The project led Marlow to photograph all 42 Anglican cathedrals over the following three years.

“What I thought was going to be incredibly simple became intricate, complicated, and utterly absorbing,” Peter Marlow, who passed away in 2016, said. “The journey was memorable and wonderfully hypnotic, a kind of reflective pilgrimage. My cathedral days involved hours of driving and thinking, with my reference Polaroids drying in the sun on the dashboard. England passed by.”

How He Photographed all 42 Cathedrals

The photographs may look simple, but creating them required extensive experimentation. Marlow developed a careful approach to document the vast interiors and show the architectural differences between the cathedrals. He used large-format film and only natural light, photographing almost every cathedral from the same position, facing east toward the nave and altar as morning light entered through the main window. He also made sure all artificial lights were turned off.

This was unusual because many of the cathedrals keep their lights on continuously. The result was a series of photographs showing the buildings emerging from darkness, giving the interiors a sense of stillness and distance from modern life. The series can be seen as a contemporary continuation of the long tradition of photographing English churches, including the work of Frederik Evans in the late 19th century.

Marlow’s photographs reveal the stunning scale and detail of the interiors of England’s Anglican cathedrals, highlighting their architectural and religious significance.

More information about The English Cathedral at Southwark Cathedral in London, U.K. can be found here.