Ewen Spencer: While you Were Sleeping 1998 - 2000

An up-close portrayal of late-’90s London’s many music scenes, from the pages of Sleazenation and beyond In the late 1990s, as a graduate from art school, the British photographer Ewen Spencer began making pictures for Sleazenation, in particular for the infamous listing pages at the rear of the magazine that were called "Savoir Vivre." The images were made in both black and white and color, and were immensely candid and full of characters that seemed to be everywhere at that time. London was at the epicenter of a cultural boom in this period. Small clubs, parties and discos were plentiful in venues from North to South, and Spencer was in a minicab and night bus taking in all the scenes—from Northern Soul, Acid House, Jungle and Garage to Nu Metal, South London blackout clubs and more. Spencer captures an era filled with love, lust and messy authenticity.