She Sees It Differently: Brogan on photography, creative resilience, and trusting her own perspective

One of Brogan’s favourite images

For Brogan, photography began long before it became a career. It began at a young age, with a disposable camera, a mother documenting family memories, and a photograph of her parents kissing on a Florida patio. She directed the moment herself, complete with an unapologetic lens flare. The image still hangs in her parents’ home today, a small but telling reminder of where her visual language began: personal, intentional, and unmistakably her own.

Since then, Brogan has never simply used photography to document the world around her. She has used it to interpret, construct, and communicate it. Her images inhabit a carefully curated space where chaos can find balance in calm, and polished aesthetics collide with raw human emotion. Movement, colour, sculptural light, tension, and duality become part of a visual vocabulary shaped by a lifelong fascination with the strange, the macabre, and the beautifully unexpected.

But behind the distinctive imagery is an artist deeply invested in connection, one who credits her community, challenges herself through rejection, advocates for greater opportunities for women behind the camera, and remains committed to protecting a singular creative voice in an industry transformed by technology and AI. From childhood cameras to creative ambitions that have taken her into fashion and commercial photography, Brogan’s story is ultimately one of learning to trust what she sees and, more importantly, trusting that her perspective has a place in the world.

In conversation with Models of Canada, Brogan reflects on the origins of her creative voice, the realities of rejection and imposter syndrome, the future of Canadian fashion photography, and the artist who has most influenced her: Tim Burton. Along the way, she offers a reminder that perhaps the most meaningful legacy is not a body of work at all, but the connections made while creating it, and naturally being remembered as a warm friend who listens intently and makes great cheese recommendations.

Models of Canada: Every photographer has a story behind the first time they picked up a camera. Can you take us back to that moment and tell us what made you fall in love with photography?

Brogan: At around 8 or 9 years old, I was influenced by my mother to pick up a camera. She was documenting our lives and making family photo albums from our memories. I vividly remember the first photograph I took. It was of my parents, heavily directed by me, kissing on a patio in Florida. It is still framed in my parents’ house to this day, aesthetic lens flare and all.

I began using the medium much in the same way; I grew, experienced, and interacted with the world alongside it. My mom would buy me disposable cameras, which grew into digital point-andshoots I brought with me everywhere. Photography has become synonymous with the way I observe and communicate.

Models of Canada: Photography often captures everyone else's stories. What is one chapter of your own life that has shaped the way you see the world through your lens?

Brogan: With the nature of my work, it is atypical that I am photographing someone else’s story in the way a documentary, wedding, or portrait photographer would. Commercial work aside, my photography exists in a heavily curated and constructed world of my choosing.

There is not a single chapter responsible for the intent or aesthetic behind my work, but a convergence of several pieces of my internal creative voice. I consume and communicate with the world through still images. It is an expression of my thoughts, observations, aesthetics, and inspirations.

Models of Canada: What is a creative belief you've held onto throughout your career, even as trends, technology, and the industry have changed around you?

Brogan: Hold steadfast and true to your creative voice. Impactful imagery is created from your singular perspective, the amalgamation of your life lived. Tell stories that resonate within you, and put out imagery into the world that you are the most proud of or drawn to.

Models of Canada: What do you hope people feel (and not just see) when they look at one of your photographs?

Brogan: In a broad sense, as the intention of my work varies so significantly, I am speaking predominantly to human behaviour and internalized emotions. I frequently explore conversations around innate polarity or duality. Refined aesthetics are communicated through raw energy, tension is balanced between control and spontaneity, and light and dark sides of human nature are woven together.

I use movement, intentional colour palettes, and sculptural lighting to convey my messages. My hope would be for viewers to absorb the consistent juxtapositions within my work, which enable you to feel intimacy with anonymity, chaos in calm, and narrative through movement. I also hope they read the artist statements, haha.

Models of Canada: Creative careers are filled with both incredible highs and difficult lows. Can you share a challenge that changed you, and what it taught you about yourself?

Brogan: I would not say there is a single challenge that changes you, but the culmination of facing similar issues time and time again. Take rejection, for example. That is a challenge which every creative consistently and unavoidably experiences throughout the entirety of their career. The evolution of self and response to it is what will change you, your work, and the trajectory of your career.

While a major challenge, rejection is also an opportunity. Face it with relentless self-assessment. Do you need to refine your craft and technical abilities, cull and curate a particular project, pitch with intentional goals, or increase consistency in your creation? Resilience is at the core of every creative, and you will be taught to rise to the occasion.

As an aside, I’d be curious to open a conversation around the challenge of ageism toward female photographers. I’ve often been told I’m “so young” or “still early in my career,” only to see the same opportunities go to male photographers my age, or younger. It makes me wonder whether other women in the industry have experienced a similar disconnect between how their age and experience are perceived and the opportunities they are offered. Though, in fairness, you really have no idea how regimented my skincare routine is.

Models of Canada: If you could photograph one person, living or gone, for just one hour, who would it be and what conversation would you hope to have with them?

Brogan: Unequivocally, Tim Burton (someone please send this to his PR team). His work has been deeply influential since an age so young I can’t pinpoint it. His influence is definitively responsible for my personal aesthetic tastes, inclination towards the strange, and interest in the macabre.

I would simply want to hear him speak about his art and his influences. There are few things as rewarding as hearing an artist speak about their work. You are gifted a unique opportunity to be spoken to directly from their internal creative voice. These conversations are deeply intimate and inspiring.

Go ask your artist friends about their work!!

Models of Canada: Fashion photography is rarely a solo effort! It’s built on collaboration. What has it been like working with agencies, models, and fellow creatives throughout your career, and what changes or growth do you hope to see in the Canadian fashion industry over the next decade?

Brogan: I am incredibly vocal about the fact that the work I create is not possible without my community. As a whole, the agencies, artists, and models are incredibly supportive of my outlandish ideas.

Connecting and creating with other artists who share your aesthetic and creative language allows you to feel seen and understood in an essentially profound way. I hope to continue to see support for our industry, particularly in the face of AI; more female photographers break into bigger publications and productions; young artists see paths and careers ahead of them; and Canadian brands continue to support Canadian voices rather than outsourcing to larger markets.

Models of Canada: If your younger self (the one just starting out) could see where you are today, what do you think they would be most proud of, and what advice would you give them?

Brogan: Young Brogan suffered a lot with imposter syndrome. It is her who would be proud of how distinctly my voice comes through in still images, that I have learned to communicate nuanced perspective, and have never wavered in my ability to connect through creation.

To her, I would say that your voice has a place in this world. Reach out, make introductions, and create opportunities for yourself even if you doubt that you are ready. You can always convince yourself that your portfolio “isn’t quite there” or “is missing something,” but you are denying yourself the opportunity to celebrate the work you have already created.

Models of Canada: When your career is one day looked back on, what legacy do you hope you've left, not just as a photographer, but as a person?

Brogan: It seems deeply presumptuous to me to conceptualize and contemplate my “legacy.” I create from a place which desires connection and conversation. If I had chosen another career path, you would still find me with a camera in hand, the same way I had one long before the career became a reality.

At any given time, I hope to be thought of as a warm friend who listens intently and makes great cheese recommendations.

Cover photo taken by: Tyg Davidson

Written by: Models of Canada

See more of Brogan’s work at BroganMcNab.com