16 Facts About Humphrey Spender

Humphrey Spender was a British photographer, painter, and designer.

Humphrey Spender was the third son of Harold Spender, a journalist and writer.

Violet died in 1921 and Harold Humphrey Spender died in 1926.

Humphrey Spender enrolled at the Architectural Association School of Architecture, but became disinclined to practice as an architect.

Humphrey Spender went on to set up a photography studio on the Strand with Bill Edmiston, who was his lover.

Humphrey Spender became a member of the Mass Observation movement, taking pictures of daily life in working class communities.

Humphrey Spender was joined in this project by the artist, Graham Bell.

Toward the end of his involvement with Mass Observation, Humphrey Spender took on work as a photographer for the recently established, highly successful photographically illustrated magazine Picture Post.

Humphrey Spender worked as an interpreter of photo-reconnaissance pictures, identifying German rocket sites and making maps for D-Day.

In December 1944 during World War II, Humphrey Spender was staying at the Hotel Gruenwalder in Innsbruck, Austria as part of his reconnaissance work with the Royal Army Service Corps.

Himmler was seated at a table when Humphrey Spender walking past, was asked to approach him and speak in German.

Humphrey Spender recounted a time he heard Adolf Hitler speak at a public gathering in Berlin in 1939.

Humphrey Spender said his voice was "very powerful and commanding".

In 1968, Humphrey Spender moved to Maldon, Essex, where he lived at The Studio, Ulting.

Humphrey Spender then married the photographer Rachel Hewitt, who was more than fifty years younger.

Humphrey Spender had told his wives before marrying them that he was bisexual, like his brother Stephen Humphrey Spender, and he had affairs with both men and women throughout his life, including Frederick Ashton and Eslanda Goode Robeson.