Meet Jessie Mazur

Jessie grew up in the once small ski town of Whitefish, Montana. From a young age she learned to navigate the forests and mountains of Northwest Montana. Her curiosity for nature and love of dramatic season changes taught her how to read the ever-changing light that moves through the Flathead Valley long before she took an interest in photography.

After Graduating from Whitefish High School in 2011, Jessie studied journalism at the University of Montana.  In her first year of college she developed a passion for photojournalism and film photography. She was fascinated by the mechanics behind the camera and the endless artistic opportunity she could see through her lens. 

Jessie was quickly recognized as a top student, earning her a position as a cops and courts reporter for the award-winning student newspaper the Montana Kaimin. She became adept at working with a diverse range of professions and personalities from all walks of life. Earning the trust of police officers, billionaires and even inmates in order to unravel the intricacies of complex social and political issues. Today she leans on her journalistic experience to help her clients find their story and feel comfortable in front of the camera. 

In the early years of her career, Jessie took a shotgun approach to her photography education. She worked as a surfing photographer on the north shore of Oahu during the Triple Crown and Eddie Aiku surf competitions, covering several red carpet events with celebrity athletes and musicians. She endured Montana’s unpredictable weather as a white water rafting photographer on the Middle Fork of the Flathead River. In India, she documented government corruption stretching from a tiny village on a Tiger Reserve to a major urban hub. She even spent a year with a beer magazine, traveling to every corner of the state capturing whimsical product images for local microbreweries.

In 2015 Jessie opened Jessie Mazur Photography & Design in her hometown of Whitefish where she could be close to the mountains, later rebranding as Picture Montana. Jessie’s wide range of experiences has allowed her to adapt with the ever changing economy and challenges brought on by the COVID 19 pandemic. 

Today, Picture Montana focuses mainly on branding and marketing photography for Montana businesses bringing two decades of local knowledge to every photoshoot. With a full service studio, Jessie has become one the Flathead Valley’s top headshot photographers. Her clients like her for her professionalism and personability, making photoshoots fun and stress-free. She can work in any environment, calm or chaotic, light or dark with confidence. 

Jessie still occasionally flexes her journalistic muscle by contributing investigative pieces, op eds and poetry to magazines. But most of her free time is spent with her daughter, often snowboarding, hiking or on road trips.