Marko Dashev Portrait Photography

05/05/2026

Me: “Tell me. Who is Yechiel Jacobs?”

Yechiel: “Hold my beer…”
____________
Part 1

Shot and Directed by

Absolutely Smashed with zero script or rehearsal by

02/23/2026

ON THE FRONT PAGE OF CHABAD.ORG TODAY!
CHECK OUT THE ARTICLE ABOUT MY WORK!!

https://www.chabad.org/news/article_cdo/aid/7257076/jewish/Marko-Dashev-Spent-Years-Shooting-Fashion-Now-He-Photographs-Leading-Rabbis.htm

02/20/2026

02/02/2026

Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz z”l
Photographed at Queens College, 2014, 📸 The book pictured is the newest addition to Rabbi Steinsaltz’s oeuvre. The Essential Talmud in Chinese.

Rabbi Steinsaltz is often called a millennium scholar for good reason. Born in Jerusalem and originally trained in the sciences, he devoted his life to opening the depth of Jewish learning to everyone. His translation and commentary on the Talmud transformed access to Torah study worldwide, allowing generations of students to enter texts that once felt closed to all but experts.

When I photographed him, it was late — the final portrait after a long day of lectures. He stepped off stage still surrounded by people seeking his guidance, yet he walked with me to a makeshift studio built in a narrow hallway beneath the auditorium.

As we began, he joked that photographers are the most powerful people in the world — because once anyone stands before the camera, even presidents take direction. Then, looking at the images appearing on the screen, he laughed that the best time to photograph him would have been when he was three years old, with long blond curls. I asked if he would settle for being captured as a wizened sage. The laugh that followed is the moment preserved here.

At that time the Jewish world was praying for three missing students from his own Mekor Chaim Yeshiva — Yaakov Naftali Frenkel, Gil-Ad Shaer, and Eyal Yifrah. May their memory be a blessing. Their deaths were confirmed the next day, and Rabbi Steinsaltz returned immediately to Israel to comfort his students.

In the portrait, I wanted to reveal both warmth and gravity — a man whose scholarship was immense, yet whose presence remained gentle and accessible. A teacher whose influence continues wherever Jews open a page of Talmud and begin to learn.

For those of you who wish to learn more:
• The Essential Talmud
• The Thirteen Petalled Rose
• My Rebbe
• On the Path
• A Guide to Jewish Prayer
• Teshuvah
• Biblical Images / Talmudic Images
• The Steinsaltz Talmud / Koren Talmud Bavli editions

Resources for study:
Steinsaltz Center • Aleph Society (steinsaltz.org) • Koren Publishers • Sefaria.org

01/12/2026

King Julian, photographed December 2026, Fort Lauderdale, Fl. 📸

Don’t mistake him as arrogant. King Julian is simply above all that.
He’s pure and innocent.

His message to you:
“Don’t take life so seriously. Even if I’m the king and you’re the peasant.

Love,
Your favorite monarch,
King Julian”

01/05/2026

Post #2 in this series focuses on one of Yechiel Jacobs’ most recognizable tools: his Donald Trump character.
📸 2025, Fort Lauderdale, Fl.

He doesn’t use it to satirize Trump.
He uses it to redirect attention.

The character is a delivery system — a familiar voice that allows him to speak to millions about antisemitism, Israel, propaganda, and power in a way that cuts through the noise.

It’s parody in form, but advocacy in function.

What struck me, sitting across from him while making this portrait, was how precise it all is. The costume, the posture, the hands, the cadence — none of it is accidental. It’s a constructed language.

As a portrait photographer, I’m always interested in where performance ends and intention begins. This portrait sits exactly on that line.

This isn’t really a portrait of Donald Trump.
It’s a portrait of how humor becomes a weapon, a shield, and sometimes the only way left to be heard.