Jack Spencer

Well-known photographer Jack Spencer's work explores the landscapes and their inhabitants of southern America.

In a very real sense, Jack Spencer’s work is his life. “I believe that all work is portraiture,” he says, “and, in its most pristine snd honest form, I believe it is self-portraiture.”

Spencer found his subjects and himself in the daily life of the Deep South, where he was born and raised and which was the subject of his first book, Native Soil (LSU Press, 1999). A self-taught master of darkroom techniques, he often layers his pictures with paint and mixed media to add depth and nuance—as he did in Apariciones (Apparitions), a collection of magical-realist images inspired by the writing of Jorge Luis Borges. His wide-ranging collections--from the haunting “Gestures & Portraits” to his imaginative work in Mexico to his ode to the American West, “This Land”—mark Spencer as one of the most imaginative and sophisticated practitioners of fine-art photography working today. 

His photographs are featured in portfolio/book by 21st Editions as well as a monograph, This Land, from University of Texas Press.

(Last updated Oct 25. 2017)