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InspirationPhotography

Ewen Spencer's exploration of love (and lust) of teenagers at youth clubs across Britain

In the year 2000, photographer Ewen Spencer was commissioned by Graham Rounthwaite at British music, fashion and culture magazine, The Face, to create a series focusing on youth clubs across the United Kingdom.

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Via Creative Boom submission. All images courtesy of the photographer and gallery.

Via Creative Boom submission. All images courtesy of the photographer and gallery.

From Cornwall to Lancashire, Spencer photographed teens as they drank, danced and fell in and out of love and lust.

"Today we stay younger longer and become grown-up sooner. The successes of making any sort of story around youth are to recognise that we’ve all been there at some time in our lives," says Spencer. "Being a teenager is like a concentrated moment of the human condition – all of the successes and pitfalls all being played out in one messy drama."

The series is now available to enjoy in a new book, Ewen Spencer's Young Love, courtesy of Stanley/Barker. You can pre-order your copy today before it's released early September.

Young man wearing glasses and burgundy shirt sitting at a turquoise table inside a youth club, with colourful lights visible through the window behind him
Teenagers dancing closely together at a youth club, with a young woman in a black crop top embracing a shirtless man among other clubgoers in dim lighting
Teenagers at a youth club, with one boy resting his head on his hand whilst a couple embrace behind him, against a backdrop of a starry night sky mural
Young people dancing and socialising at a youth club, with a woman in the centre drinking from a bottle surrounded by friends in blue-lit surroundings
Teenagers dancing and embracing at a youth club, with one wearing a neon sign crown, surrounded by onlookers in a dimly lit venue
A teenage girl holds a blue virtual reality headset to her face in a bedroom decorated with colourful flower garlands and a world map on the wall
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