Say cheese, Portland: Meet the woman behind the city’s favorite photo booths

Published 4:55 am Wednesday, July 30, 2025

“No pictures,” in big white letters, was plastered on Jocelyn Dean’s shirt.

Ironic, given she’s the founder of The Photo Booth Chick, her more than a decade-old business dedicated to bringing photo booths to Portland.

“We like a curvy girl,” Dean said, sitting in The Kex Portland, feet away from one of her babies, Janis, a digital photo booth housed in an original 50s cabinet with wood paneling and teal cursive lettering.

For those who’ve stepped foot into Raven’s Manor, McMenamins Edgefield, Holocene, or about 40 other Portland venues, the photo booth inside likely belongs to Dean. Recently, Dean expanded her reach and put two photo booths in Astoria at the Merrytime Bar and Rivermouth Vintage.

She started with five about 11 years ago.

Dean’s booths are built, or refurbished, by a friend in Chicago. By the end of the year, she hopes to bring analog machines to Portland.

“I thought I would spread out and get this world domination thing going on, and then I realized, I really like being able to give my locations personal attention,” she said. “I love them. I love my babies. I love the locations, the managers and the bartenders. It’s how I stay alive.”

All of Dean’s babies are named after women in rock, found etched near each booth’s serial number: Janis Joplin, Lita Ford, Stevie Nicks, Belinda Carlisle and more.

Photography adjacent career

Born in Maine and raised in Southern California, Dean found her way to Portland in 1998. Then, she attended the Pacific Northwest College of Art for photography, which was all film. Upon graduation, she had to learn digital skills all on her own.

“I do feel like I used my degree because ‘photo’ is in the name of what I do. Right?” Dean said, laughing.

Now, she’s a jack of all trades beyond photography.

Dean is a chemist, engineer, designer, currency creator, teacher — you name it, and she’s probably it, thanks to her photo booths. From crafting small golden coins engraved with a camera and “The Photo Booth Chick,” valid for one photo session, to explaining the mechanics of the octopus-like mechanism inside an analog booth to children, Dean learns from these machines.

She used her early photography years shooting bands. For those visiting a record shop in the future, head to the punk section and look for Defiance, The Casualties, Get Hustle and The Riffs to see a sample of her work.

A frequent flyer to Chicago, Dean fell in love with the photo booths she’d find in the city for their sheer beauty.

“This is it,” she thought. Dean said she was ready to give up her rock band gigs, move to Chicago, and start a new life working at photo booths.

Can’t stay away from Portland

With her gears turning, Dean returned from Windy City and headed to the former Ace Hotel, now known as The Clyde.

“That was the first one I’d ever seen in Portland,” Dean said of the photo booth staring back at her.

That was nearly 20 years ago.

Determined to find the operator of the booth, Dean tracked down the company and “made them” give her a job. Dean and one other woman maintained what started as two or three booths, which eventually grew to 23. After her trainer quit, Dean took care of all 23 analog booths on her own for years.

“It was really ‘jump in.’ I didn’t have any formal training,” Dean said. “Learning electricity was new. I can’t say I didn’t electrocute myself a couple of times.”

Dean was let go from the company after nine years, and because all of the booths she had placed were at local joints where she was friends, she said she felt lost about where her career was heading.

But those booths were neglected, and the businesses were not happy.

It was out with the old and in with Dean’s new photo booths.

“I maxed out all my credit cards, took out two loans, spent all my money, and crossed my fingers that it would work,” she said. “And it did.”

Now, she said she can’t stop buying them. Every time she has money to get another one, she does.

And as hard as it is to write the whopping checks to her locations each quarter, she said she’s happy to be supporting the local economy.

“I kind of love that this wad of money that I’m saying goodbye to is going to local businesses and you can see it in action,” Dean said.

Where can I find these photo booths?

Here’s a list of Portland locations, which occasionally change, as of Tuesday, July 29:

• Advice Booth
• Alleyway Bar
• Belmont’s Inn
• Beulahland
• Black Water Bar
• Bye and Bye
• Cargo
• Dot’s Cafe
• Florida
• Holocene
• Kelly’s Olympian
• KEX Hotel
• Laurelhurst Theater
• Lollipop Shoppe
• Low Tide Lounge
• Madame Bar Bar
• McMenamins Edgefield
• McMenamins Kennedy School
• Midnight Society
• Moxy Hotel
• My-O-My
• Oaks Park
• Paydirt
• Paymaster Lounge
• Psychic Sister
• Raven’s Manor
• Rialto Poolroom
• Rocket Fizz
• Sit Tite
• The Standard
• Star Bar
• Tom’s Bar
• Twenty First Avenue Kitchen and Bar
• Voicebox Karaoke
• Voodoo Doughnut

Sometimes, a lucky photo booth visitor may find a hidden “The Photo Booth Chick” token redeemable for free photos. Keep those eyes peeled.

“It’s kind of like an Easter egg,” Dean said. “If you go into a photo booth and there’s one in there, it means I was just there and left you a present.”

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the invention of modern photo booths.

For more, visit @PhotoBoothChick on Instagram.