OB photographer Jason E. Kaplan offers his favorite images, taken throughout the state in 2024.
Getting to cover the state for Oregon Business is a great joy. As the year comes to a close I like to take a look back at all the people I’ve met and all the places this job has taken me.
I’ve traveled from Burns to Newport, through the Willamette Valley and the Columbia Gorge to bring back images that illustrate the stories we tell about our fellow Oregonians.
Over the course of 2024 I’ve taken more than 20,000 photos while on assignment. I’ve spent some going through them to pick out a few that were particularly interesting or poignant.
It’s a great privilege to be trusted by all these strangers who let me into their lives even if only for a few moments. I’m always grateful to all those who allow me to capture their images.
Looking forward to see what 2025 brings. Happy New Year!
It’s always interesting to meet people away from their workplaces for our Downtime feature. Cobi Lewis is CEO /executive director of MESO, a nonprofit that helps small businesses find their footing. In her off hours, one of her favorite pastimes is to browse the stacks at Powell’s City of Books.
Selina Kephart owns The Raven’s Nest, one of the few open businesses in Shaniko, a central Oregon town of about 30 people whose Shaniko Days music festival is breathing some life into the town’s economy. She also organizes monthly potluck dinners to encourage civic engagement.
During the Shaniko Days parade I came upon Mayor Don Treanor. I said I was working on a story about economic development in Shaniko. He said “Great, just leave me out of it.” I asked, “Why?” He said, ” I just don’t like to talk to people much.” I asked if I could take his picture. “Sure, you can take my picture, that’s fine.”
Dance instructor Margot X owns Fig Tree Studio, the only stripper-owned pole dancing school in Portland.
The iconic Dancin’ Bare strip club in North Portland has been closed since 2020. Now a large portion of the building is slated to become an all-ages music venue run by the non-profit Friends of Noise. Founder Andre Middleton is seen here standing in front of the under-construction venue.
Few Portland-area stories were as big this year as the opening of the new terminal at Portland International Airport. In May I was able to get a tour while the new space was still under construction. In this photo we see Dave Garske of Hoffman Construction at left and Vince Granato, chief projects officer of the Port of Portland, under the new wooden ceiling that everyone is talking about.
For her Downtime piece, Niki Price, executive director of the Lincoln City Cultural Center, wanted to be photographed while gardening. Here she is seen weeding in the gardens outside the Cultural Center Building in Lincoln City. It’s not the photo that made it into the magazine, but it was my favorite from the assignment.
In our May issue, we covered several programs that teach building trades to high school students around the state. This allows kids to graduate with marketable skills in needed fields. Here we see Hermiston High School senior Caleb Guardado and carpentry instructor Gideon Fritz working on the fireplace at the house the students have been building all school year.
Jenny Nguyen, owner and founder of The Sports Bra, the first sports bar dedicated to showing women’s sports, was featured in our March issue, shortly before announcing plans to start franchising. Here she is photographed in her establishment in Northeast Portland.
While decriminalizing drugs in Oregon proved unpopular and was recently rolled back, funding for drug treatment from Measure 110 has begun to fund programs in all corners of the state. One of them is the Fresh Start Cafe in Burns, where people in recovery can earn while learning jobs skills and getting support in their sobriety. Here employee Tim Marchand is at work in the kitchen.
The cannabis industry is not limited to just growers and dispensaries. In September we looked at some of the professionals whose fields are ancillary to the pot producers. Here we see Decater “Doc” Collins, CEO of Hood Collective cannabis marketing photographed at a grow operation in Northeast Portland.
Another industry ancillary to cannabis production is, of course, legal services. Here pot attorney Matt Goldberg poses for the most casual lawyer portrait I think I’ve ever taken.
Relay Resources is a Portland nonprofit that creates employment opportunities for people with disabilities or barriers to the job market. Seen here is CEO Dr. Jennifer Camota Luebke, photographed in the company’s warehouse in Northeast Portland.
Brad Bailey, CTO of OoNee Sea Urchin Ranch outside of Newport, dives for purple sea urchins, removing them from the kelp beds they’ve depleted, and raises them in indoor troughs until they can be harvested for uni and sold to local restaurants. Sea urchin ranching is a relatively new model, which Bailey and OoNee cofounder Aaron Huang hope will help the kelp forest recover while meeting a demand for uni, which is typically imported.
Print media has been on the retreat for years. Now it’s becoming increasingly difficult to get a newspaper home delivered. Portland resident Kate Haas, featured in our September story “Where’s the Paper?” told us many days her copy of The New York Times never makes it to her porch.
Andrew Proctor, executive director of Portland Literary Arts photographed in the center’s old library, just prior to the organization’s move into a new building in Southeast Portland.
The Northwest startup Ridwell helps route recyclables that can’t be processed by municipal services to facilities that can make use of them. Taylor Loewen, Ridwell Oregon manager, is seen here giving a tour of Ridwell’s new facility in Northeast Portland.
Mark Gibbs, owner of BrainWave Computers, photographed here in his Beaverton shop with a custom system he was building, was part of a coalition of businesses and nonprofits that fought for the passage of Oregon’s right to repair bill last spring.
One of my last assignments for the year was to visit Yoshida Foods for our January Storyteller-in-Chief column by founder Junki Yoshida. Several times while showing me around, Yoshida paused to mug for the camera with his signature smile and thumbs-up.
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