Spencer Ostrander is a photographer based in Brooklyn, New York. He was born in Seattle, Washington in 1984. The year he turned 21 several people close to him died, one after the other, and he realized he had no tangible images of them to fix in his memory. He began to think about the meaning of photographs.
While studying psychology in San Francisco, Ostrander received a Nikkormat 35mm as a gift from a family friend and his interest in the art became an active obsession.
He transferred to Parsons School of Design in New York City, graduated in 2010 with a degree in Design + Management. He went on to assist freelance for a variety of portrait, fashion and documentary photographers.
Since embarking on his solo career, Ostrander has photographed Mary J. Blige, Erykah Badu, Ethan Hawke, Dave Gahan, Julia Garner, Charlotte Rampling, etc. and his images have appeared in At Large, The Atlantic Monthly, L’Officiel, Grey Magazine, Playboy, Vogue, Teen Vogue, Zeit Magazine among many others.
Although he abandoned the formal study of psychology, Ostrander’s work is deeply informed by a desire to observe closely, to forge human connections, and to intimately understand the world around him.
Ostrander has published three books of photographs: Long Live King Kobe (ZE Books, 2022), Times Square in the Rain (Hatje Cantz, 2022) and Bloodbath Nation (Grove Atlantic Press, 2023) in collaboration with writer Paul Auster.
For Press or Booking Inquiries:
ostrander.spencer@gmail.com
@spencerostrander