A MOTCOMBE photography student who documents journalists under pressure has recognised with a solo exhibition in Australia.

For the last year, Jennifer Forward-Hayter has been documenting reporters as they work in war zones, during government crises, Royal funerals and more, working alongside the likes of Jeremy Bowen and Carol Cadwalladr.

The result, an exhibition entitled Larrikin, went on display at the TAP Gallery in Sydney, Australia.

“It’s a sprinkling of my recent adventures with leading journalists across war zones, government disasters, and royal funerals, featuring a mix of portraiture and documentary,” she said.

“Journalism is still a really under-reported story,” the Masters student at Middlesex University added.

“Most big journalists write an autobiography, but they never cover the whole process; the overwhelming chaos of choosing between doing a podcast or going to a warzone to die, for the same job, and why both can be equally important.”

Jennifer said she refused to apply for a press card when working, preferring to shoot at close-range, with a flash.

“I did this to keep me on the outside,” she went on. “The process of being photographed – even discreetly – is really unnatural, and I like drawing attention to the uncomfortableness I get as reactions.

“I’ve been headbutted twice while taking pictures. I’ve often gone to communities I’m not, or never would be, a part of.”

The satiriical work of journalists at The Chaser in Australia was perfect subject matter for part of her studies, she said.

“They run the oldest, still-running satirical media organisation in the world, and I spent a month documenting their process,” she said.

“Australia is unique in the history and continued development of journalism. It’s still a remote, isolated island, with an intensely concentrated media ownership.

“As an extra fourth estate, satirists have to not only react to journalists, but become better in order to mock.”

Some of Jennifer’s work on display

Despite never telling people when she was going to turn up, Jennifer was given access to budget meetings, delicate pitch writing, and computer screens.

“I especially liked capturing the journalists walking around the office – normally a quick dash from desk to kitchen,” she added.

“It was like shooting someone who’d finally taken a peak above a parapet, and they became vulnerable.”

After showing her images to the organiser of a local photo festival – who had never seen images of well-known people during moments of intimate, everyday stress – Jennifer was invited to appear as a solo exhibition in Sydney, supported by XD Law/Xenephon Davis.

“Australia has a different relationship to portrait photography, and historically favours landscapes, so to be able to capture these very human reactions, and really visualise that, is really special,” she said.

“The reaction to my work was amazing. The Chaser, the satirical group I had shot the year before, still intrigued and unsure of why I wanted to shoot them, hosted a special, sold-out, artist talk for me.

“They discussed why arts funding should be abolished.”

Jennifer, who also received an undergraduate Photography degree from Middlesex, said she hopes her passion for observing people will continue.

“I would like to continue using photography as an excuse to be places I shouldn’t,” she added.

“Particularly through shooting my MA project, I’ve been told so many amazing stories by a variety of people – observing how they work, on frontlines, members clubs, and online empires.

“There’s a hundred more small snippets of life, and photographers can push to the front to experience these.”

But next up is Jennifer’s solo degree show, Penknife, which is set to take place in London in January.