Seeing and Being Seen
January 30, 2026
My photography is an act of presence. For decades, I have made portraits of women not as subjects to control, but as individuals to meet in a shared moment of stillness. In that space, something quiet unfolds—something more honest than performance, more intimate than direction.
As the camera disappears, so too does the divide between “observer” an...
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First Place Winner
November 14, 2024
My mother etched into my psyche my whole life, "we don't brag." but it is just us right? And I am quite excited that tonight at Winterville Cultural Center Gallery, the Judges called out my name as First Place Winner of the show. They commented that the first place winner was a photograph. I thought what? Photographs never get first place in a mixe...
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Presentation at OLLI UGA
February 20, 2024
I recently had the best time speaking to OLLI at the University of Georgia about my journey in portrait photography. I started the talk with a photograph of me at age 3, and then I gave some tips that were hopefully relevant to both smartphone users and advanced camera users. I concluded the talk with discussion of my philosophy of portrait photogr...
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2024 Lens Culture Portfolio Review
February 12, 2024
This week started off with me receiving a rather pleasant portfolio review. I have gotten some over the years rather scathing.
If you care to read:
"Jason-
One of the beauties of reviewing a submission like yours is that I can see the range of ways that you are thinking/seeing as a portrait photographer. There are images that have a more documen...
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On being a has been
November 30, 2022
Around 2017 or so I was messaging a young female photographer. I liked her work and purchased her self-published book of autoportraits. I found her look interesting and wanted her to pose for me so I asked her. She replied she had looked at my work and didn’t like it. Even as insecure as I am, I was still On surprised. She went on to explain what s...
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© Jason Machen