M. H Journal

UK-based photographer and filmmaker Tom Brannigan approaches image-making as an ever-shifting process – part instinct, part experiment. A collaborator and friend of the brand, his recent work for Miller Harris’ Tea Tonique Extrait offered a space to explore texture, light, and narrative. Here, he shares thoughts on process, influence, and the tension between control and play. Your work sits somewhere between still life, sculpture, and image-making. How do you define your practice today, and has that definition shifted over time? I sometimes imagine my practice as this sort of amorphous blob that follows me around, I can never quite see it but sometimes catch it out the corner of my eye. It’s hard to define at times because it is so close to me – it fascinates me how my work has evolved and honestly I just try not to be too contrived. I like the subconscious to play a role in things and see what comes to the surface. This, for me, keeps the making of work interesting and challenging. I could never be the kind of person that just makes the same picture over and over again… maybe thats the wrong way of doing it but it makes sense to me. I can’t stand to be bored and I’d hate to feel that way about photography. More recently I am being drawn towards what I could loosely define as narrative based still life – not in an overtly staged way, but in a way that reflects lived experience. I’m interested in ideas of representation, luxury, the heirloom and consumption. How certain objects makes us feel content or grounded – almost like cornerstones. I love how this feeling about objects ties with the “photo graphicness” of my craft, and the experimental nature of my practice. I suppose the short answer is that I consider my practice a journey. You’ve spoken about being drawn to light, texture, and “in-camera magic.” What does that pursuit look like in a practical sense when you’re building an image? I like to find ways to render an idea through the image with my tools as a photographer - light and form. The pure magic of photography never ceases to amaze me and I love any opportunity to refine a technique or rediscover a process. That could come in the form of staging, lighting or post-production. I’ll always look for a chance to bring something special into the studio and see how it benefits the image! There’s a distinct balance in your work between precision and imperfection. How important is it for you to retain a sense of analogue warmth in an increasingly digital space? It is absolutely critical. I don’t want my work to look clinical, soulless or predictable so I think it’s really important to cherish and protect the medium. I love shoot on film and hand-printing my images, but digital has such huge advantages when collaborating with clients, art directors and stylists. Having a firm rooting in the darkroom definitely keeps my skills sharp either way and I think approaches are valid and feed off each other. Your images often feel highly constructed yet unexpectedly alive. How do you approach composition so that still objects carry tension or movement? I hope they do read that way! I think still life is such an exciting area of work. To me, the process of positioning and repositioning objects, lens and light until things just feel right is deeply rewarding. Things come together for only a fraction of a second through the viewfinder, almost as if one is observing a piece of street theatre or something. Those moments are rare but incredibly affirming in the idea that there is some sort of order in the universe.. You spent years assisting before shooting commercially. How did that period shape your eye, and what did it teach you about control versus experimentation on set? Gosh that is a tricky question – I think I was pretty awful assistant. For most of my assisting career I worked full-time for a photographic duo (that shall remain nameless), and 95% of it was a nightmare. I don’t think it really trained my eye beyond providing me some financial stability so that I could live in London and go to museums and art galleries in my time off. I also learned how not to do things. I think I maybe learnt more from watching other peoples mistakes. It was at a time when a lot of toxic energy and ego floated around the industry and I remember thinking that if I ever were to make it that far in my career I’d do by being nice to people and not climbing over anyone else. I hope I’ve stuck to that! There’s a strong research-led element to your process, with a lot of testing happening before a shoot. What does that exploration phase typically involve, and how much of it makes it into the final image? That can take many directions – it may be an editorial or artists commission that is driven off an idea I’ve toyed with in my studio. Or it can be on larger commercial projects where I’ll break down elements of the brief, explore them technically or creatively and then present options back to the client in order refine an approach pre-shoot. Everything I do is customised and unique to that particular clients needs and so it creates a dialogue ahead of the shoot and invites collaboration. The research all goes into my sketchbook with annotations and polaroids and I can easily revisit and review notes. I think of my work as largely in a constant state of research as opposed to consistently looking for short term outcomes, and I think that really benefits the projects I”m attached to. Your influences range from modernist painting to more subcultural references. How do those visual languages translate into the clean, graphic compositions you’re known for? Ok, bad analogy time. I think of my process as a sort of sausage machine. I control what goes in, I don’t really know what happens inside the machine, and at the end is the work which is a kind of mashup of whatever I’ve been absorbing at the time. So it can be anything from hardcore punk to a recent film, it comes from conversations, lived experience, and again experimentation. I have to protect that space and consider these influences because it will invariably come out through my work – no binge watching love-island for me! You’ve worked extensively across beauty and fragrance. What continues to interest you about these categories, and how do you avoid falling into familiar visual tropes? I’ve always felt at home in these markets. Luxury is a place where ideas are often allowed to be more abstract or conceptual, there is more space in these worlds for the processes and ideas that I want to surround myself with. It’s an incredibly privileged place to be operating. Of course, I do work with clients from in a broader communication context too and this brings a refreshing challenge. There’s an ongoing dialogue in your work between control and play. How do you know when to stop refining an image and let it exist as it is? This ties in to an earlier question – in the process of making an image I do think it’s important to stop and ask oneself if there is anything else that will improve the image. You have to be decisive and know when to call it but you also need interrogate yourself in that moment and be sure that there isn’t anything you’d change. I think I owe my clients that - to make sure there is not something I’ll look back on later and wish I’d changed. In terms of the control and play – it is a natural state of creation. I think its in my nature to hold back and release in equal measure, I suppose its a left and right side brain thing? More recently, your personal work explores themes around food, consumption, and communication. How are these ideas shaping the way you think about commercial image-making today? Well, I think these themes are very much alive in both my commercial practice and personal work. As we’ve already discussed I see my practice as one broad stream, rather than keeping the two divided. I’m deeply interested in food systems and how food is represented in image making. A few years ago my wife and I relocated our family to rural Suffolk in an attempt to become more self sufficient and connected to what we eat. This led me into my Masters study in Communication Design and a very sprawling exploration of these ideas. What drew you most to our Tea Tonique Extrait project creatively? Was it the product, the concept, or the freedom to interpret the brief? Miller Harris is a unique fragrance to work with, where craft and creativity feel highly valued. Of course, the concept and visual language is very much in my wheel house too. There’s a quiet confidence in your photography. How do you know when an image is ‘finished’ without overworking it? I think that comes from experience and although it’s a cliche, I’m always working to improve. I think its my job to definitive and direct in that way, to know make the image in the way I believe is right and to be committed to that, while of course collaborating with the client and team. On some projects it’s easier to find that place than on others. When I was at an earlier stage in my career I found it hard to commit to that – I think particularly as I’ve had more experience directing motion its given me that confidence to know what I want and how to achieve it. How does your personal aesthetic align with the visual world of Tea Tonique Extrait, and where did you intentionally push or evolve your style for this shoot? When I reflect on this campaign I think it’s the raw elegance that really hits for me. I loved bringing together the delicacy of the fragrance and ingredients with the rougher textures and directional lighting. It felt very natural and at the same time refined. Photography can provide those kind of paradoxes which make it so unique as a medium. Looking back at the campaign, is there a particular image or moment that encapsulates the essence of the project for you, and why? I love the moments on set when the team is huddled around a play back monitor and we’re all getting excited about what we’re seeing! I remember when we were shooting the textures of liquids and flowers, and the way the camera was capturing the movement light was just so unique, so avant-garde and abstract and yet at the same time rooted in traditional. It’s lovely to be in a room with creative people who speak the same visual language as me. To learn more about the man behind the lens of our latest campaign, follow Tom on Instagram or visit his website. Tea Tonique Extrait is now available online and in-store.