Jennifer Blau is interested in the intersection of art, psychology and documentary photography. Exploring story, identity and the emotional landscape of her portrait subjects, she challenges preconceptions about marginalised people, seeking to encourage understanding and a shared sense of humanity.
Jennifer has Masters degrees in Documentary Photography (SCA 2012) and Art Therapy (WSU 2017).
In 2022, Jennifer was a winner in the British Journal of Photography’s Female in Focus award, a finalist in the Maggie Diaz Photography Prize for Women and awarded third place in Capture’s Australasia’s Top Ten Emerging Portrait Photographers. Her work has also been included in the National Photographic Portrait Prize (2021), Head On Photo Awards (2021), Loud and Luminous (2020), Head On Portrait Prize (2013), Moran Photographic Portrait Prize (2012) and Sydney Life (2012).
In 2013 she co-exhibited Acknowledged: Sydney’s Homeless at the State Library of NSW. In recent years, she has held several exhibitions in Sydney’s Head On Photo Festival, including featured exhibition Patricia’s Room (2021) Just Ask Me How I Feel (2017), See More Janes: After Midnight (2013) and Their Space (2012).
Jennifer’s photography has been featured in The Guardian, Marie Claire, Capture, Better Photography and other publications.
Jennifer is the author of The 50 Book: Women Celebrate Life (Captain Honey, 2013) a photographic trade book exploring women over fifty. Her recent photobook Patricia’s Room was included in Momento Pro’s ‘Best of 2020 Photobooks’.
After many years working as a senior editor in illustrated books and photo editor for several major publishing companies, Jennifer now offers a personalised portrait experience to a range of clients.
Jennifer is also a registered art therapist with a Master of Art Therapy, with Distinction (WSU, 2017). Her photographic work is informed by her interest in art therapy, such as ways in which we might convey embodied experience without words. In turn, she draws upon photography to offer new ways of working in art therapy.
Jennifer lives on Cammeraygal land in Sydney, Australia.
