Thrive: Brooke Johnson London Gallery

Brooke Johnson is no stranger to Photography Farm, she’s one of our most frequent mentors but it’s been a while and I did wonder if she would be this year’s Conference Dark Horse. There’s always one that isn’t so well known to our attendees but that I know will shake things up a little and challenge us to think a little differently. Brooke joined us at Thrive this year from Utah where she gardens, tends her chickens and makes candles. She’s celestial, witchy vibes and describes her approach as “photographs that make you linger, tangled with emotion while challenging your perspective”.

Speak from the scar, not the wounds

Challenging perspectives is one of my major aims with our Thrive conference and Brooke is someone who chooses not to follow trends but instead follows her heart. So I was very much looking forward to seeing how she would approach our Day Two photoshoots at Thrive…

“The goal was imagining possibilities and examining limited belief systems, while layering light and creating the space for your subject to feel free.” Brooke Johnson

We at Photography Farm are thrilled to showcase Brooke Johnson’s images from her time with us. Consider this your invitation to step out of the shadows and embrace the light of artistic truth. Her ability to transform everyday scenes into profound reflections is not just inspiring—it is a testament to the power of visual storytelling.

Here, the shadows whisper and the colours are loud, Brooke’s work embodies a journey of self-discovery and confrontation. The gallery encourages a dialogue not just about photography, but about art. Her talks contained quotables such as “Speak from the scar, not the wound” and “A golden cage is still a cage” and these weave through the visuals, enriching the narrative of each piece.

Brooke is the first mentor that we’ve had at Thrive who continued the same narrative in our second location for the conference so keep an eye out for her Scottish images which I will also share. Pay attention and you will note that threads of the same symbolism weave through both photoshoots.

“Brooke almost brought me to tears during her talk”

Simone Hughes