Creative GradFest21: Photojournalism graduate’s image of neighbourly spat is used in a host of national newspapers

Image: SWNS

They say a picture tells a thousand words – well here’s one that raised a few smiles in the papers recently.

The image, snapped by USW Photojournalism graduate Matt Lofthouse, has been splashed in almost every UK national newspaper – after a neighbourly dispute over a tree turned sour.

As part of Creative GradFest21, Matt tells us more about his career since graduating from BA (Hons) Photojournalism in 2020.

Matt has recently joined South West News Service, an agency suppling news stories, pictures and video to media outlets across the UK and internationally. And although he covers the Midlands as his ‘patch’, in just a few weeks he has been sent as far as Grimsby in Lincolnshire and Aberdyfi in Gwynedd, North Wales, as well as Sheffield – where the latest tabloid tale took place.

Neighbours in a street in Waterthorpe were locked in an ongoing dispute over a 16-foot fir tree, which was between their two driveways, as one resident complained of nesting pigeons being too noisy and making a mess of his side of the drive.

After months of arguing, the resident called a tree surgeon to cut half of the tree branches down – leaving half of the fir tree still standing.

When SWNS’s Leeds office called to say their photographers were too busy to cover the story, Matt was sent to the street to take some photos of the now infamous half tree.

His images have since been used in The Sun, Daily Telegraph, Daily Star, Daily Mail, Daily Express, The Times and The Daily Mirror, as well as the story featuring on Loose Women and the Jeremy Vine show.

Matt, who is originally from Stalybridge in Tameside, Greater Manchester, said he wanted to study Photojournalism so that he could be part of recording history.

“My favourite subject is history, so I thought that by becoming a photojournalist, I could help document the events of our lifetime. One day I’d like to see my images in the history books – and we’ve all been living through one of the most historic years yet, with the Covid-19 pandemic.

“When I was a student I covered Cardiff City FC’s promotion to the Premier League, I worked with the Royal Marines, and did some really important jobs – but it’s stories like these, about petty neighbours, that the UK media absolutely love and the stories do really well. I’ve even been approached by the media in Europe and in New York to ask if they can use my photos.”

Matt hopes to gain as much experience as possible with SWNS, learning the news trade before travelling with his camera in the future.

He added: “I’d love to be known as one of the best photographers around, and carry on contributing to history.”