Jo Spence (1934-1992) was a photographer and artist, well known for her work on the family album, photo therapy and collective photography.
Download: Searchable excel spreadsheet with the inventory of the contents of the Jo Spence Memorial Library .
Download: Inventory of Categorised Archive Boxes and Portfolios
Podcast: Jo Spence Archive and Memorial library workshop – Over Birkbeck Arts Week 2017 the History and Theory of Photography Research Centre hosted a workshop on the Jo Spence Archive and Memorial Library. During this event, Dr Patrizia di Bello spoke about the archive as ‘feminist family album’, and Professsor Steve Edwards reflected on British documentary in the 1970s. You can listen to recordings of both talks here.
Jo Spence’s legacy is not only as a photographer but also as a writer who overcame her fears of revealing her class origins and being ‘found out’ to be able to represent her ideas and tell her own story. This article, Stand in Contradiction, Write or be written off: Jo Spence, autobiography and archive, looks at the lasting impact of her life and work making connections between her inspiring autobiography Putting Myself in the Picture, her desire to take power over her own representation and a library of books which she collected in her lifetime.