Today we’d like to introduce you to Jason Dean
Jason, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Hi there! My name is Jason, but you may know me better as The Jason Dean. I’m a photographer/artist/poet based out of Marquette. My story starts in Oil City, which is not actually a city (although there are two gas stations at the stoplight, so the oil part tracks). I was a quiet, goofy, ‘smart’ (based on my grades I guess) kid who liked reading, sports, and music. I did life the ‘right way’- went to school, followed the rules, graduated from high school and went to college. Since I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life, I stopped going to college after a few years. I drifted for awhile until I met a girl, fell in love, and moved up to the Upper Peninsula. We had a couple kids and eventually I went back to college, graduating with a degree in social work. Life was progressing at a normal clip at that point.
Then I discovered photography, and everything changed.
Funny enough, my photography journey does not start with photography. It starts with local theatre. Having watched my wife and kids perform in many shows, I decided I wanted to play (pun intended) and in the fall of 2016 I decided to audition for the season’s theatre productions at the local university. Back then the university put on an annual production of ‘A Christmas Carol and my family and I thought it would be fun if the four of us were in the show together. It sounded like fun, but I would have to audition to get into the show, which is something I had never done. I figured I would be cast as a member of the ensemble and would have a fun few months of getting to spend extra time with my family and then I could get back to my normal life, so I prepared a song (‘Go the Distance’ from Disney’s Hercules) and a monologue, and on August 27, 2016 I completed my audition.
I not only ended up getting cast in the show, but I got a part (‘Ghost of Christmas Present’) with a featured song AND I was cast in another show (Building Madness) that would premiere the following February.
Being a part of those two theatre productions gave me an immense confidence boost and it sparked a creative fire in me that would burn slowly for a couple of years until eventually catching fire during the summer of 2018. That summer I was cast in another local production, a show that told the story about the first immigrants to the Upper Peninsula and how they overcame the harsh conditions and their differences to grow together as a community. As someone who hails from Oil City (which again is not an actual city), I realized I had never strongly felt like a part of a community. Geographically and socially I had grown up as an outsider. I never really felt like I ‘belonged’ anywhere. Being in that show made me start to think about what it meant to belong to a place, and filled me with yearning to belong to that place.
As I followed the yearning to belong, I started to explore my city more and more, and as I explored I was captivated with the world around me and the beauty it contained so voluminously. And wanting to soak up that beauty and keep it with me always, I started to take pictures with my cell phone to look at later on. This was okay for a time, but I eventually came to realize that there was more that I wanted from this experience. I not only wanted to capture the beauty around me, but I wanted to share it with others, and share what that beauty was through my own eyes and experiences. This led me to take an online iPhone photography class in February of 2020. In 2021, I got my first DSLR camera (a Nikon D5600) and since then I have continued to explore photography and try my best to capture the beauty that exist all around us.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I’m trying to become a full-time photographer (that is, someone who makes their living by photographing and selling photographs). At this stage in my journey, there are more than a few obstacles to overcome!
One of the main challenges is carving out a niche from scratch in a community that is saturated with photographers. Anyone in Marquette with a camera (and with cell phones now, everyone has a camera) can look to their left or their right and find something beautiful to take a picture of. There are just SO MANY beautiful things and places to explore here. I’m constantly having to work to find new ways to photograph well-known landmarks in a way that feels true to myself and my vision while also being fresh and having some level of commercial appeal. It’s no easy feat!
Zooming out a little bit, there is tremendous competition in the digital space to share photos and gain a following through the most frequented spaces (i.e.Facebook, Instagram, etc.). There are millions of people sharing images every day, and recently there has been a significant increase in the volume (and as much as it pains me to say this, quality) of AI images. If you don’t hit the algorithm just right, or have an existing following (and/or a lot of bots following your account!), it’s very easy to post your artwork into the void, overshadowed by engagement bait and troll accounts before eventually fading away. It can be frustrating to routinely put yourself out there only to feel like you aren’t being seen, and unfortunately it is only getting worse as Meta more aggressively pushes AI content and (in my opinion) content that increases polarization.
Perhaps the biggest challenge that I am overcoming on a daily basis is navigating the emotional peaks and valleys that come with being a sensitive person who is trying to express himself creatively. 2024 was a challenging year for me personally for many reasons, and I often had to fight with myself to even take the camera out of the bag. Thanks to the love of my family and friends and my faith, I was able to persevere and I am looking forward to taking on all challenges that come my way this year as I keep making forward progress towards my goal.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Currently I am a social worker by trade. I have spent over a decade working with the homeless response system in the Upper Peninsula, and for the past six years I have overseen state-funded contracts for agencies and organizations that provide emergency shelter for people experiencing homelessness in northern Michigan. I’m glad to be able to work with so many incredibly selfless people that are giving literal blood, sweat, and tears to help some of the most vulnerable people in their communities. My current job involves a lot of paperwork and assessing compliance. It often feels very bureaucratic, so I try to bring some humor and levity to the work. In my opinion, life is too short to stress too much on paperwork, especially when there are literally people that are dying on our streets because they had no where else to turn.
What’s next?
My goal is to be a full time photographer with a focus on fine-art photography, so right now I’m ordering my steps to head in that direction. I recently started a newsletter where I will share my photography, poetry, and other creative expressions. You can check that out at https://thejasondean.beehiiv.com/. I’m also trying to build a physical footprint in the Midwest art world. I have submitted pieces for a couple of upcoming art shows in the Upper Peninsula and in 2026, I will be featured at a local mini-gallery show. I’m very excited about that opportunity, but I have a lot of work to do to get ready for it! I’m also exploring opportunities to photograph more local events, both community-wide and private. In February I photographed the UP200 sled dog races in Marquette and really enjoyed telling the story of race through photographing the people involved. Taking candid photos of people can be challenging (especially for an introvert like myself!) but it feels so, so good when you’re able to capture special moments when people are not acting or posing, but are being themselves and immersed in a moment.
Those are more medium/long term goals though. In the short term, I want to focus on being a a kind and loving person and to use my art and photography to be a positive presence in people’s lives. There’s way too much negativity in our society, especially on-line. My hope is that I can use my art and writing to help remind people of our common shared truths and values and that there can be beauty in difference.
Pricing:
- 11×14 photo prints, $35 plus
- Event photography- $125/hour.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thejasondean.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_jason_dean/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@the_jason_dean
- Other: https://thejasondean.beehiiv.com/
