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Spencer was born in 1978 and grew up in the Kentish countryside. Raised in relative isolation, miles from the nearest shop or school, Spencer often found himself with only his imagination for company and the surrounding woodland as his playground. As a young boy, he took refuge in his mum’s issues of National Geographic, which inspired an early enthusiasm for the photographic image. As a result, his mum bought him his first camera in an effort to foster his interest; at the age of eleven he was given his first SLR, and that interest became a passion. It was around this time that Spencer met Cyrus at school in Maidstone, where the pair’s shared love of cinema and exploring the great outdoors quickly made them the best of friends. Even then, Cyrus was scribbling short stories that Spencer would consume voraciously, and they spent entire weekends shooting horror movies on their parents’ video cameras, finding time between takes to throw themselves off hills, cranes and cable cars for kicks and occasionally breaking limbs in the process. Years later, when his grades began foundering as a result of all the time he was spending in the darkroom, Spencer decided to leave school and head to art college, eventually applying for a photography degree at Falmouth College of Arts on the Cornish coastline. Since completing his degree in Falmouth – during which time the Relative project was conceived – Spencer has spent several years living in London while working as a photographer’s assistant and photographer, continuing his personal projects and undertaking assignments for a few publications. His work has been exhibited in various group shows and was awarded the Metro Bursary 2002, the Fujifilm/AOP Assistants Award 2004 and a grant from the Arts Council England. Recently Spencer has been included in The National Portrait Gallery, Photographic Portrait Prize, Commended in Creative Reviews, Creative Futures and awarded The AOP Bursary 2006 for his personal project 'Wastelands'.