Michael Spencer Jones is an incredibly influential British art photographer and music video director. Michael Spencer Jones’ art has been used as album artwork for rock musicians including Oasis, The Verve, and Leonard Cohen.
Michael Spencer Jones is an incredibly influential British art photographer and music video director. Michael Spencer Jones’ art has been used as album artwork for rock musicians including Oasis, The Verve, and Leonard Cohen.
Spencer Jones became interested in photography from an early age but developed a strong passion for the art whilst studying the great American 20th-century photographers Alfred Steiglitz, Edward Steichen, and Paul Outerbridge. Spencer Jones’ style is also inspired by surrealism, Angus McBean, and Hipgnosis' ’pop art’ album covers. He studied photography and film at the Bournemouth & Poole College of Art, assisting the advertising photographer Stak alongside his studies. He graduated with a distinction and moved to Manchester, where he became involved in the ‘Madchester’ music scene and began to shoot rock photography, starting with the Stone Roses and Happy Mondays. Spencer Jones was introduced to Noel Gallagher, who had admired Spencer Jones’ photographs for The Verve, in 1993. He then spent five years with Oasis, capturing their meteoric rise to superstardom and creating their iconic first three albums, What’s The Story Morning Glory, Definitely Maybe, and Be Here Now, and 11 singles sleeves. As well as working within the music industry, Michael has also captured many famous faces with his simple yet emotive style of portraiture, including U2, Tom Jones, Kasabian, and Robbie Williams.
Spencer Jones' portraits use natural light which creates a sense of intimacy between the subject and viewer.
The fashion photographer Terence Donovan encouraged Spencer Jones to pursue a career in photography.
In 2015 Spencer Jones founded Spellbound Galleries, which specialises in limited edition music photography.
Spencer Jones' work can be found in ‘Children in War’, a permanent exhibition at the Imperial War Museum North.
Spencer Jones produced ‘Out of the Blue – The Oasis Photographs,' a limited edition book and portfolio.
