Jason Hall Machen
Bowman, Georgia 30624, Population ~800 in 1979
I like to say I have had a camera in my hands since I was age three. Indeed, this is a real picture of me at that age, holding what I believe was my grandmother Machen’s old camera. No one was planning on me being a photographer; I was just playing with the daughter of a family that was visiting. I would get my first working camera when I was in elementary school, a Kodak Brownie Fiesta. I loved using that camera. The only thing I did not like was that, like most amateur cameras of the time, it was fixed focus, meaning I could not do close-ups.
When I was around fifteen, I got my first 35mm, a Sears SLR. Living in rural Georgia, we got everything from Sears. That camera completely opened the door for me. I began reading everything about photography I could get my hands on, subscribing to every magazine I could find. My parents had always been good at providing me with art books. While still in high school, I began a course with The School of Modern Photography. In 1974, when I was seventeen, I opened my first studio, and when I was eighteen, I bought the building.
These photographs are from those early days, just some of the people and things I experienced as a teen to twenty-something.
Most of the photographs were made with a Sears 35mm Single Lens Reflex camera (the camera was actually made by Ricoh). For some, I also used Mamiya RB67 and Yashica Mat 124G medium format cameras. The film, except for the Kodachrome, was developed in my darkroom. All of the images on display were produced by my hands every step of the way—from scanning, retouching, printing with the best materials available, to matting, framing, and hanging them on the wall.
Today, I am retired from the business of photography—which fed my family for decades—and my time is focused on fine art photography. I have two daughters living in Athens. Chastity is a mental health professional, and Sara is a working artist and owner of one of the most respected tattoo shops in Georgia. My son-in-law Steve is a mixed martial arts trainer and coach.
Special thanks to Judy Hammond, gallery director, and the Winterville Cultural Center Gallery for
inviting me to this exhibition; it is an honor.
You will find more of my work at www.machenphoto.com and @studio2107 on Instagram. You may contact me at [email protected].
Thank you for coming.
Bowman, Georgia 30624, Population ~800 in 1979
I like to say I have had a camera in my hands since I was age three. Indeed, this is a real picture of me at that age, holding what I believe was my grandmother Machen’s old camera. No one was planning on me being a photographer; I was just playing with the daughter of a family that was visiting. I would get my first working camera when I was in elementary school, a Kodak Brownie Fiesta. I loved using that camera. The only thing I did not like was that, like most amateur cameras of the time, it was fixed focus, meaning I could not do close-ups.
When I was around fifteen, I got my first 35mm, a Sears SLR. Living in rural Georgia, we got everything from Sears. That camera completely opened the door for me. I began reading everything about photography I could get my hands on, subscribing to every magazine I could find. My parents had always been good at providing me with art books. While still in high school, I began a course with The School of Modern Photography. In 1974, when I was seventeen, I opened my first studio, and when I was eighteen, I bought the building.
These photographs are from those early days, just some of the people and things I experienced as a teen to twenty-something.
Most of the photographs were made with a Sears 35mm Single Lens Reflex camera (the camera was actually made by Ricoh). For some, I also used Mamiya RB67 and Yashica Mat 124G medium format cameras. The film, except for the Kodachrome, was developed in my darkroom. All of the images on display were produced by my hands every step of the way—from scanning, retouching, printing with the best materials available, to matting, framing, and hanging them on the wall.
Today, I am retired from the business of photography—which fed my family for decades—and my time is focused on fine art photography. I have two daughters living in Athens. Chastity is a mental health professional, and Sara is a working artist and owner of one of the most respected tattoo shops in Georgia. My son-in-law Steve is a mixed martial arts trainer and coach.
Special thanks to Judy Hammond, gallery director, and the Winterville Cultural Center Gallery for
inviting me to this exhibition; it is an honor.
You will find more of my work at www.machenphoto.com and @studio2107 on Instagram. You may contact me at [email protected].
Thank you for coming.
© Jason Machen
Route One, Bowman, Georgia 30624, 1972
Hoyt Witcher’s Service Station, Late '70s
Dr. Dooley’s Dentist Office
Cannery, Bowman, Georgia, 1983
Back Porch 1983
VHF in the RFD, 1976
Greased Pig Contest, 1977
Chastity’s Joy in Living, 1978
Pa Patches Our Roof, 1983
It's My Turn Chas, 1983
Vivian Hall Machen, 1974
Descended From Slaves, Late '80s
Opening Reception
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