One Night in Watford by Ewen Spencer

One Night in Watford is a vivid photographic chronicle by renowned photographer Ewen Spencer, offering an extended edit from series Skins Season 1. Featuring a vast amount of never-before-seen images, many in print for the first time, this body of work captures the raw, unfiltered energy of the infamous night in Watford — the hedonistic house party where the original cast of Skins first came together.

Spencer’s lens immerses viewers in the chaos, euphoria, and intimacy of a generation-defining moment — a night that sparked the beginning of a British cultural phenomenon. With every frame, One Night in Watford celebrates youth, freedom, and the unrelenting spirit that made Skins into a cult TV series.

“These pictures are a fiction, a series of images that were made for a TV programme that had not yet been seen. They were commissioned by a creative team to summon up the spirit of what it was like to be young and British at the turn of the century. Through the exposure of my work in Magazines, exhibitions and books at that time the creative duo asked me to recreate the real in a contrived setting.

We (the production company) threw a house party for the cast and draughted in a crew of like minded extras that were at the center of the then electroclash scene in London. The extras were a group that were predominantly students at London’s Central St Martins art School and they arguably made the shoot what it became. They had their own preferred DJ, Pierre. Who played the desired sounds and they let rip all over the location house.

Our ‘main’ cast were a mix of experienced and new actors who had begun filming series 1 of the now cult TV show in Bristol. I worked closely with them using scrap books and visual references as prompts, they didn’t need too much encouragement and we ended up going feral photographing what unfolded in front of us occasionally rounding up the cats to regroup and playout a few scenarios capturing as much of the in-between mayhem as the intended moments. This was the first time l’d recreated the magic of earlier pictures from various discos and parties in a more controlled or contrived setting. The images were used as a nationwide print advertising campaign promoting the new show on Channel 4s then offshoot, youth channel, E4.

It was a turning point for me to begin making more pictures for fashion, style, electronics companies that wanted to generate ‘real’ moments and something I began to use more in my editorial approach. The pictures won some awards and accolades for the creatives involved. They were brave and I was willing. Here are a few of the pictures from that night in Watford.”

Ewen Spencer, photographer

One Night in Watford book

84 page, 11×14″ oversized book published by Friend Editions

Exhibition printing

The launch was supported by Spectrum Photographic: large blueback prints of a selection of the iconic images were produced.