Probing the underbelly of the dirty, the bad and the downright sleazy decade of the 1980's - Thatcher's Britain, Vivienne Westwood's Punk and the anarchic British sub-culture driven by greed, lust, wrath and pride - capturing British sub-culture is what Paul Spencer does best.

From Hollywood celebrities to the ordinary man on the street Paul’s critically acclaimed portraits and documentary photography uncover the raw identity - the otherwise impregnable core of Britain’s sub-culture.

Strippers, gangsters, slappers, spankers, bikers, punks, shooters, horse dealers, then Lydon, Costello, Lol Coxhill, Siouxsie Sioux, The Clash, Blur, Radiohead, Robert Carlyle, Nick the Greek, and Stockbridge. Sara Stockbridge – the anti-model, the punk-Marilyn, Vivienne Westwood’s muse and the face of the Eighties.

Throughout the Seventies, Eighties and Nineties the critically acclaimed photographer, Paul Spencer, was entrenched in the punk, mod and ska movements. He moved in the same circles as The Clash, Captain Sensible, Elvis Costello and Morrissey, gaining unrivalled access to their true natures. He depicted them in context, in their haunts, Shane MacGowan in Filthy McNasty’s, Morrissey in The Grave Maurice, Blur behind bars and Radiohead on the streets of Oxford.

His portraits have established identities and music movements: The much celebrated Blur British Image shoot is highlighted by the band in their feature-length documentary, Nowhere Left to Run, as the launch-pad of their Britpop rise to fame. Paul’s seminal Morrissey images were chosen by the Artiste for two album covers, and the 'face' for his Greatest Hits Tour. Shooting Stockbridge as the personification of Jamie Hewlett’s cult comic hero, Tank Girl, Paul Spencer’s images adorned the front covers of Vogue, Elle and The Face - and yet this is only half the story.

In a career that spans thirty years of music, film, fashion, New Wave, Ska, Punk, Jazz, Pop, Mods & bikers, it is Paul’s reportage, his documentary photography that places the celebrity, the film-star, the fashion and music icon firmly back in context with their roots, their inspiration - perhaps their soul.

This book is a picture book like no other. In a world consumed by celebrity and popular culture, Paul Spencer’s archive is an intravenous injection of the lifeblood that runs through the veins of British identity and underpins what makes British sub-culture truly great.

For a sneak preview of Paul's archive you can view an exhibition of his prints, film footage and debut as theatre director at Richmix in Shoreditch from 2nd May - 2nd June.

Click here for details.

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In 1977 as the London punk scene came kicking and screaming from the darkest of London's back street pubs like Hammersmith's Old Red Cow, a young teenager, Paul Spencer, was slipping through the back door to steal snaps of the dirty and the dangerous.

A passion for photography was born winning Paul Spencer a prized place at the Croydon College of Arts under the tutelage of the infamous British painter, Bruce MacLean. With his roots firmly set in the music industry Paul Spencer was commissioned regularly by the London style and culture magazine, Time Out, to shoot all the major acts to hit London. Spencer began working with all the UK major record labels creating album covers and press shoots for the likes of Morrissey, Blur, Elvis Costello and many more.

Three decades on, Paul Spencer has continued to shoot the biggest names in music whilst utilising his spare time to document people and culture around the world, which have been both published and exhibited internationally.

Paul Spencer is represented by Vaarta.