The abandoned, the isolated, the darkness and the distant…shadow,
more shadows and light. These are the elements of Jack Spencer’s photography.
His eye is drawn to these things. There is also color and the quietest of
beauty in his work. Jack Spencer; in the midst of his somber tonality is able
to excite as much as he engages his viewers with something of a manly charm. Think
of Hemingway when you look at Jack’s wordless stories.
I very recently was made aware of the work of Fine Art
Photographer Jack Spencer through no-less of an informed and credible source PBS’s
Charlie Rose Show (Charlie by the way is on leave as he is recovering from surgery.)
Guest host John Meacham wrote the foreword for Spencer’s newly released book “This
Land: An American Portrait” and did the honors of the Spencer interview. The
book highlights Spencer’s recent travels across and around the United States
and is in itself a remarkable statement.
The images there in highlight the American
landscape in a decidedly unique vision of our dystopic and often wrongly
interpreted times. Spencer is able to capture; in his sometimes painterly style,
what could well be the zeitgeist of our contemporary American epoch. Through the
use of still photography that cuts to the essence of the thing like no other
medium; Spencer rewards his audience.
The self-taught Spencer is respected, lauded and collected
in a highly fashionable way. This is deserving and to his credit as a creator.
I am including an abundance of images with this writing. The images are in Spencer’s
own distinctly eloquent voice.
