Jenny Brough creates photography and film that feels like stepping into a vivid dream

Transmission 285: Interview with Jenny Brough

Renowned for her vibrant, ethereal, dreamlike, and evocative photos and cinematic visual style, Jenny Brough is a photographer and director who works primarily in London and Paris. She was interested in innovative techniques and visual culture from an early age. Her skillful use of color and hypnagogic undertones make her style instantly identifiable. She crafts vivid, textural, and immersive worlds. Her artwork is characterized by marshmallow-hued color schemes, bizarre landscapes, and theatrical set pieces that use fashion images to create escapist otherworlds. Her artwork is also influenced by a hands-on approach; she prints her own pieces in her own color darkroom, and the chemical and analog processes contribute to her aesthetics, emphasizing her personal viewpoint that is included into the portfolio’s unique aesthetic and lyrical light effects. She is rooted in craft, bursting with imagination, and based in professional versatility.

Her work fights the image overload, aiming for lasting memory instead of being ‘just another magazine spread.’ The aesthetic pulls viewers into the scene instead of leaving them on the outside. Texture, color, and set design work together to evoke feeling, escapism, nostalgia, and wonder. She constantly offers a beautiful, multi-layered sensibility that transports viewers to a world of fantasy and emotion, whether she is directing moving-image narratives or capturing exquisitely detailed tableaux for luxury goods. Jenny Brough’s imagery is dreamlike, cinematic, and highly stylised, since she creates worlds and places that people can escape to. Over the years she has shot for high-profile editorial and commercial clients, like Vogue and 10 Magazine, and her images have appeared in leading magazines and campaigns. Her lists high-profile clients and projects including: Hermès, Moncler, Zara, Swarovski, and others. 

Official site | Instagram | Vimeo

Did you have any early experiences in your childhood that kindled your passion for photography, or did this interest grow over adolescence?

There is a photograph of me when I was a toddler holding a small compact 35mm camera. Apparently I was given free reign to go around and photograph my uncles wedding, which mainly consisted of knees. I have no memory of this though. My real love for it started when I learnt black and white photography for A-level and fell in love with the traditional darkroom printing side of things.

Can you please tell us about your beginning and the main challenges, how do you navigate them? Have you had any unexpected moment that caused you to question if you were on the right path?

I come from a background that has no connections to fashion, or the photography industry. I was also a female from a small countryside town so the odds were against me already. I had many challenges trying to enter this industry. The biggest one being money, having to fund all the editorials covering the costs of studios, equipment, set etc, I did multiple different side jobs to keep afloat. I was lucky enough to have friends in London who let me sofa surf whilst I did a bit of assisting experience, but again most of this was unpaid. I had to sacrifice a lot, so there were many times when I questioned if I could keep going.

How has your visual identity been influenced by your experiences in Paris and London? Do you feel that the tales you chose to convey and the artwork you create are influenced differently by each city?

Each city pushes me in different ways. In London I’ve always enjoyed the spirit and strive to push boundaries and exceed expectations. There is a very specific extra layer of creativity. In Paris however things generally tend to be more focused on a highly elevated and curated fashion level, which makes me dive deeper into my imagination to materialize a refined dreamworld. 

Your artwork balances a dreamlike elegance with an almost surreal intensity. How do you approach the fine line between beauty and the uncanny in your photography?

I like to create in a controlled environment. From the space to all other elements that come into play from styling to hair and make up, everything is meticulously planned and thought through to get as close to perfection as we can. When it comes to the actual shoot day on set I then like to give into chance and allow for space to do things based on the actual conditions of the day and the energy of the team, rather than exclusively stick to the plan. This sometimes can lead to amazing output that you could never have planned for. 

Her artworks maintain a distinct visual identity in a variety of settings, bridging the gap between fine art and commercial/editorial art.

Your photography has a painterly quality. Do you draw inspiration also from classical art, and if so, how does it inform your approach to composition and lighting?

I wouldn’t necessarily say that I take inspiration from classical art. I’m more drawn to color and color compositions in all different forms. This can come from the art world, but also from nature or objects we find in everyday life. It’s hard to really put it into words but seeing vibrant colors in reality and how they are a direct reflection of real life does something to me and ignites this urge in me to try and capture it in its purest form. Some of this can of course be seen in classical art and how the great painters used paint so masterfully to illustrate not only color but also light. 

Your work often plays with light and shadow in a way that feels both intimate and dramatic. Could you describe your relationship with these elements, and how they contribute to the emotional narrative of your images?

Light and shadow are both mundane and extraordinary at the same time. We don’t think about it as actively, but they define how we live every second of every day. What we see, where we go, what we do, where we feel safe or seen, where we hide, it’s all influenced by it. I try to use some of these emotions and connotations in my work, by creating light scenarios that evoke those same emotions that inform our every decision. This puts the subjects in a spotlight to evoke something new out of them, while still giving the viewer a sense of recognizability.  

Jenny Brough stands apart because she retains a clear, identifiable visual identity while fusing craftsmanship with modern business demands

How do you approach the use of color, or the lack thereof, in your artwork? You have worked with bold color palettes and striking compositions. Is it a conscious decision based on the subject, or more of an intuitive process? How much of your creative direction is instinctual versus meticulously planned?

That really depends on the subject and commission, but comes down to the process I’ve described earlier. I do plan everything very precisely in advance, but then I let go of it all and make way for my brain and creativity to just flow. For stills that works out perfectly, but in my directing it is very hard to find the space to just create, because those productions are so fixed on getting everything exactly according to the storyboard and clients don’t often allow you to experiment on set and try new things. It almost becomes an art in itself to find ways to do it without prior agreement, because so far the clients afterwards always love my creative outburst and insist on including that in the final output – even if they were trying to block me from capturing those shots on set. 

She frequently creates intricate setups and styling to create entire visual worlds, and she uses analogue darkroom printing for distinctive color effects.

Fashion photography often involves translating a designer’s vision. How do you navigate the interplay between your artistic voice and the brand or designer’s concept? How do you establish a connection with models to bring out the emotions or energy you want to capture?

I would like to think that they go hand in hand. A collaboration should ideally always come to fruition out of mutual respect for one another and the desire to find a way to merge ideas and visions and find common ground to create something new and exciting from. Work that pushes the narrative forward for both parties. Finding the right models is a crucial part of that creative process, as they have to really embody and carry out the concept. Getting the best out of a model really depends on the model. Either the brief is so strong that they instantly get into the right emotion or I like to try and find things we have in common, to create a bond and break down the work barrier to really connect with them and get the best out of them for the project. 

Jenny Brough shoots mostly on film and is a big advocate of analog methods

Many of your images evoke a sense of cinematic storytelling. Do you see yourself as a director of still moments, or do your images exist as fragments of a larger unseen narrative?

Photography was my first passion. It’s what I know and love. Nothing excites me more than capturing life in all of its colorful and vibrant beauty. In film, however, I find joy in being able to bring a new dimension to the stories I tell. I don’t know if I can say that my images are fragments, because sometimes a still is all I have and it can be just as powerful as a moving picture. My ongoing project Unseen Faces for example perfectly shows how I like to combine both. There are strong visuals that work as stand alone pieces, but then there is also an extended film that gives more context and adds more layers to the work. I don’t really know, it’s hard to try and pinpoint it like that. I can just say that I love to tell stories, especially stories that involve people that show me new ways to live and new aspects of life that I am unfamiliar with. Maybe that is the larger narrative, that I just want to explore and learn as much as possible about life and the world.

In 2021 she also created with Davey Sutton “Without You I’m Nothing” a Zine Inspired by Romance and Death Create

You’ve worked in both photography and directing. How does your approach to framing and composition differ between still images and moving ones? Has your work as a director influenced how you think about photography? Do you ever find yourself approaching a still image with a filmmaker’s mindset?

Overall I would say I am still relatively new to the directing side of my work. I have been a stills photographer for much longer, and so the changes that come with thinking like a director have been challenging. My way of thinking has been trained for so long to think like a photographer, so when it comes to directing you really have to think about so many more elements, and for me it’s all the pre-planning that I’m still getting used to. I like to have some freedom on set, when you see something,  you make it happen there and then, whereas directing you have to pre-think everything beforehand and I find this sometimes a little restraining. My stills side has definitely influenced my style of directing, and vice versa.  And I’m finding I’m getting more and more interested in creating images that have more of a story behind them.

Photos courtesy of Jenny Brough

Dominique Musorrafiti

Ciao! My name is Dominique. I’m Italian and I’m proud to be a mix. My father was an Italian chemical engineer and high school teacher, with Greek and Polish heritage. My mother is Haitian, she was high school language teacher, with Dominican, Spanish, French, Portuguese, African and Native American heritage. Being a mix makes me appreciate to want to understand different cultures and lifestyles. I grew up in Italy, lived few years in Haiti, travel around main European capitals, lived many years in China, in Spain and UK. Traveling makes me feel that we can learn something from every situation in every part of the world.