Ewen Spencer
“Teenagers”
Third Floor Gallery, Cardiff
23.6.2012 - 12.8.2012
It is a bad time to be young in Britain. Tabloid newspapers equate the current generation to a criminal underclass, succinctly put in a Daily Mail headline. “Feral youths: How a generation of violent, illiterate young men are living outside the boundaries of civilised society”. But who are the British youth and what do they stand for?
Ewen Spencer has spent the last fifteen years documenting youngsters in the inner cities of Britain. His close, sensitive and personal work describes a complex culture peppered with human emotions. Late night parties where young people long to ‘fit in’ with their group of mates. The first loves and sexual encounters that lead to adulthood. Rejected by the media and feared by much of society, teenagers have always been a source of creativity. Teenagers follows 21st century youths into the birth and first steps of the alternative music scene of grime.
Ewen Spencer was born in Newcastle Upon Tyne in 1971. Deeply involved in the musical scene, he has collaborated extensively with The Face since the late 90s and has been the main photographer for The White Stripes. He has worked on major advertising commissions by the likes of Nike, Puma, T mobile and Sony, as well as the TV series Skins. His most representative book to date is Open Mic, which documents the mid-2000s East London grime scene.
“Teenagers”
Third Floor Gallery, Cardiff
23.6.2012 - 12.8.2012
It is a bad time to be young in Britain. Tabloid newspapers equate the current generation to a criminal underclass, succinctly put in a Daily Mail headline. “Feral youths: How a generation of violent, illiterate young men are living outside the boundaries of civilised society”. But who are the British youth and what do they stand for?
Ewen Spencer has spent the last fifteen years documenting youngsters in the inner cities of Britain. His close, sensitive and personal work describes a complex culture peppered with human emotions. Late night parties where young people long to ‘fit in’ with their group of mates. The first loves and sexual encounters that lead to adulthood. Rejected by the media and feared by much of society, teenagers have always been a source of creativity. Teenagers follows 21st century youths into the birth and first steps of the alternative music scene of grime.
Ewen Spencer was born in Newcastle Upon Tyne in 1971. Deeply involved in the musical scene, he has collaborated extensively with The Face since the late 90s and has been the main photographer for The White Stripes. He has worked on major advertising commissions by the likes of Nike, Puma, T mobile and Sony, as well as the TV series Skins. His most representative book to date is Open Mic, which documents the mid-2000s East London grime scene.