Jason Takes Photos and Complains

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I didn’t want to write this bio. Truly. I’d rather be out shooting—laying on the floor to find the right angle, chasing the light, or editing until my eyeballs rebel—than sitting here trying to describe myself like I’m accepting an award.

But Liz wouldn’t let it go. She insisted. Repeatedly. And if you’ve ever met Liz, you know resistance is futile. She’s a pain in the... marketing department.

Anyway. I’m Jason Cantrell, founder of Cantrell Architectural Media. I started messing with cameras around age five—mostly out of boredom during my dad’s band practices. He’d hand me his Pentax K1000, and I’d wander off to see what the world looked like through a frame. Since then, I’ve never stopped asking the same question: how do I make this frame intriguing, different, and tell a story?

I went pro in Chicago around 2000, photographing fortune cookie fortunes in gutters, frozen sunflowers, and chicken bones on the L train. It wasn’t glamorous, but it taught me how to find grit, texture, and honesty in overlooked corners.

A friend in the newspaper business gave me a shot at stringer work—covering high school sports, local parades, and the occasional celebrity sighting. Then one of the “big 3” national news outlets called. More celeb stuff, college sports, press tours. Blah blah. Somewhere in the mix, I ended up on staff at a portrait studio... and eventually bought the place. Portraiture became life for years.

Then the pandemic hit, and for the first time in years, I stopped. I realized how much I missed silence—and space. I started studying architecture and editorial photography, and I haven’t looked back since.

Along the way, I’ve shot for more newspapers, magazines, TV stations, and major corporations than I can remember. I may have even picked up a few national awards and a stack of other shiny honors—but this isn’t about that.

Today, I shoot short-term rentals. And while that might sound like a departure, it’s really not. It's the most technically difficult genre of photography that I've ever experienced. It’s still storytelling. Still chasing light. Still figuring out what makes a space feel like something and not just look like somewhere.

I don’t charge by the photo. I don’t work from a checklist. I shoot until the space tells me it’s done. My work leans editorial, full of real shadows, natural light, and intentional framing.

Yes, I do drone. Yes, I do video. No, I don’t do boring.

If you’re looking for someone to show up, shoot 25 safe angles, and bounce—you’re in the wrong place. But if you want someone who gives a damn and will treat your space like a feature spread… here I am.