Pickathon on Film with Kelsey Jean

For our 25th anniversary, we teamed up with local Portland photographer Kelsey Jean to capture Pickathon in a way that honors both our history and the living spirit of the festival today. Guided by a creative sense of nostalgia and permission to play, Kelsey shot with expired Polaroid and 35mm film to focus on the quiet, intimate details that tell the story of a festival weekend.

Instead of only following the stage lights, her lens lingered on the in-between moments: inside jokes scrawled on napkins, handwritten setlists, the glow of sunsets filtered through our neighborhood installations, and those hidden exchanges that vanish in the blink of an eye.

The resulting images feel timeless — as if they could have been pulled from a dusty shoebox decades ago or developed fresh this morning. They are fragments of memory and artistry colliding, stitched together into a visual scrapbook of connection, celebration, and the everyday magic of being here, together.

Explore the full gallery of expired Polaroids and 35mm shots (coming soon – developing!) from Pickathon 2025 below.

Sharing a photo? Tag @kelsey_helpme on Instagram or link to her website (www.kelseyjean.com).