Jeanette Spicer
About
Jeanette Spicer received her MFA from Parsons The New School in 2013. She attended the Vermont Studio Center, The Wassaic Project, and Benaco Arte in Italy, among other residencies. Her first monograph, Sea(see) was published in 2018 by Kris Graves Projects, and her second, To the Ends of the Earth was published by GOST Books, in Fall 2024. She has shown her work in various exhibitions, and has had her photographs shown in publications such as The New York Times, New York Magazine, The New Yorker, and Vogue. She is co-editor of a dyke publication (2019-current), WMN, showcasing art and poetry by marginalized communities of lesbians.
Gallery
LACP Interviews Jeanette Spicer
LACP asks Jeanette Spicer ten questions about their background, career in and beliefs about photography.
Los Angeles Center of Photography: What kind of photographer are you?
Jeanette Spicer: Not totally sure what this means, but perhaps what kind of pictures I make? I mostly focus on portraits, and work with loved ones. My main drive behind making work is my experience of being overly sexualized, objectified and treated as prey as a woman, while simultaneously invisibilized and underrepresented as a lesbian.
LACP: How long have you been photographing?
JS: Off and on for about 30 years.
LACP: Where did you get your training?
JS: I went to undergrad at The Art Institute of Philadelphia – which is now an Old Navy, no joke. And then went to Parsons The New School for my MFA, in New York City.
LACP: When did you know you wanted to devote your life to photography?
JS: Well I don’t think I devote my life to photography, as much as making photographs is just a part of who I am, no different than my need to eat, sleep, and engage with the world. I made a distinct decision to go to school for photography at 17 because nothing else really called to me and at that time (early 2000’s) photographers could sustain themselves through gigs, magazine work, there were photographers as staff at NYT and NY Mag and such. Things have really changed over the last 20 years. But, either way, I don’t see my life as devoted to it as much as it’s just a part of me.
LACP: Did you ever come close to giving up?
JS: I’ve had questions, especially living in NYC, where everyone and everything is competitive as to why I wasn’t at a certain “point” in my career, but I try to turn those voices off and realize that my journey and path is unique to me. I think you have to be a certain kind of unhinged to stay here, push through the hardships (of which there are many unrelated to photography), push past the voices from graduate school, and continue to immerse yourself in your practice. Really the most important thing to me is to continue to make work.
LACP: Have you sacrificed anything by being a photographer?
JS: Nothing not worth sacrificing!
LACP: What have you gained by being a photographer?
JS: A better, more intuned and enriched relationship with myself and with the world. I am lucky that I have an instinct to see a certain way, and a vision to share.
LACP: What classes do you teach at LACP?
JS: Teaching a new class on Surrealism!
LACP: What do you love most about teaching?
JS: How much I learn about the world, about others and about myself.
LACP: What advice would you give someone who is thinking about making a career in photography?
JS: There are so many avenues and approaches to photography which makes it both interesting and challenging. I would just encourage people to understand that it is a medium deeply impacted by technology, and constantly changing, so try to find a lane that feels aligned for you but also sustainable. I wouldn’t mix pleasure and work, a job is a job, and your art is different.