The name is Spangle, Robert Spangle. It was Spangler on the German side of his father’s family, who emigrated in the late 1800s when names that were too foreign were being Americanised. Spangle was definitely more American. Perhaps it was the German heritage that had Spangle signing up for the US Marine Corps in 2007, aged 17 and a half. More likely it was the earlier attacks of 9/11 on the impressionable boy.
The name didn’t help him blend into the military. You go by your last name. He found himself presenting his star Spangle manners in front of every formation and meeting high-ranking officials. While serving in the 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion (2nd Recon), training and working in South America, North Africa, the Middle East, with multiple deployments to Afghanistan, there were seeds of his photographic future.
‘When I was starting in the military, we were given this amazing suite of Canon cameras with every lens imaginable, 400mm lens, 800mm lenses but I avoided it, it was all heavy and I didn’t want to carry it,’ explains the 34-year-old. ‘I understood ISO and aperture and things like that. I was editing photos;
