Jack Spencer: Recent Work

Jack Spencer: Recent Work March 4 — April 16, 2005

Somewhere along the back roads of small towns dotting the Louisiana and Mississippi landscape was Jack Spencer, a self-taught photographer, searching for beauty. Driving through forgotten towns, lush bayous, overgrown cotton fields and weathered porches filled with the sound of authentic country blues, Spencer watched and listened, always looking for that one moment that inspired him to take a picture. His photographs illuminated a singular mood, person or place, exposing us to the raw beauty etched into the faces and landscapes in the South, as he returned time and again to his subjects, peeling away layers, offering us a glimpse at another facet of their character.

Native Soil, published in 1999, showcased a photographer who clearly recognized that to document a place, one has to abandon preconceived notions and accept scenarios that unfold. Religion, music, spirituality, leisure and loneliness were all prevalent, as Spencer drove along rural southern roads in search of beauty and mystery. He continued this quest in Mexico, a place known for its ceremonies and cultural history, in his series, Apariciones. Through the landscape and its people, Spencer revealed a Mexico full of secrets – secrets that fueled his images with a richness and power that is unquestionable, offering open narratives for interpretation.

Spencer's latest series, This Land, continues his portrait about place, focusing his lens on America. Leaving his native Nashville, Spencer drove across the country, venturing into small towns, letting circumstances dictate his route. Along the way, he found an America stained by its triumphs, rewriting its history on the landscape. In Spencer's America, an abandoned wooden house, once the symbol of the American dream, lays desolate; fourteen serene trees sway in the wind, paying homage to the massacre at Wounded Knee; horses run wild across the sparse plains of the Badlands; a storm passes through a vacant town in South Dakota, void of humanity; a remote town in Mississippi lays in ruins, its main street closed and shuttered.

Whether traveling the roads of Louisiana, Mexico or South Dakota, Jack Spencer photographs to understand truths, placing trust in the people he meets and the places he finds. Through photographs that are both quiet and majestic, Spencer captures moments ordinarily unseen, preserving a place and people for us to meet.

This Land images are gelatin silver prints with mixed media glaze available 20 x 24" and 30 x 40" in editions of 15 and 10, respectively. The 20 x 24" prints are $2500 to $4500 and 30 x 40" prints are $4500 to $12,000, depending on how many have sold in the edition.

The Mexico images are gelatin silver prints painted with oleopasto available 20 x 24" in editions of 40. Prices range from $2200 to $3800, depending on how many have sold in the edition.

The Native Soil images are gelatin silver prints available 20 x 24" in editions of 50 for $2800 to $5500, depending on how many have sold in the edition.. Certain pieces are available larger. Please call for price quotes on specific images.

Please call: (312) 266-2350 for prices of specific pieces.
Prices are print only unless otherwise indicated.