Jo Spence: The Unknown Recordings

For the first time, Jo Spence: The Unknown Recordings brings together the full transcripts of key historic recordings made with and by the acclaimed British photographer, writer, and feminist Jo Spence (1934–1992), alongside a wealth of unpublished photographs and documents. This landmark book offers an intimate window into the life, work, and politics of one of the most influential figures in British documentary photography.

Centred on the small, overcrowded flat Spence shared on Upper Street in Islington—a space that served simultaneously as home, studio, office, and meeting place—the book reveals the everyday conditions that shaped her practice, collaborations, and political commitments. Readers gain access to a candid British Library oral history interview as well as newly discovered tapes in which Spence reflects openly on her life, work, and ideas. The result is a sustained, unvarnished account of a working life framed by precarious housing, chronic illness, and low-paid, self-directed cultural work.

The Unknown Recordings is both an intimate self-portrait and an invaluable resource. It provides frank insights into Spence’s thinking on class, health, education, therapy, and the politics of representation, alongside unpublished documents that shed new light on her practice. For scholars, students, and curators, the book is an essential reference for understanding feminist, socialist, and documentary photography, offering a deeper grasp of the ideas, struggles, and innovations that defined Spence’s career.

The book speaks to a wide audience, including academics and students of photography, visual culture, gender and feminist studies, cultural studies, and sociology, as well as curators and educators in museums, galleries, archives, and community arts organisations. Libraries and institutions building collections on documentary photography, feminist art, working-class history, and British social movements will also find it indispensable.

By bringing together recordings, photographs, and documents for the first time, Jo Spence: The Unknown Recordings captures the radical energy, honesty, and vision of a pioneering artist whose work continues to resonate across generations of photographers, activists, and thinkers. It is a book that not only documents a remarkable life but also challenges readers to rethink photography’s role in politics, society, and personal expression.