Jason Lappa is a freelance photojournalist and documentary photographer based in Charlottesville, Virginia. His editorial work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Lily, NBC News, the Columbia Journalism Review, and the Virginia Quarterly Review.
Over two decades, Lappa has documented American life at its fault lines — political violence, natural disaster, subculture, labor, and the communities mainstream media rarely enters. He works in the tradition of deep access and sustained presence, building trust inside worlds that resist outside scrutiny.
SELECTED PUBLISHED WORK
The Washington Post
A Newspaper Vanished from the Internet — Photo essay and portraits for an investigation into the mysterious disappearance of 22,000 archived articles from The Hook, a defunct Charlottesville weekly; featuring portraits of founder Hawes Spencer and former staff, December 2022
UVA Campus Shooting — Breaking news photo coverage of the shooting that killed three University of Virginia football players, November 2022
Bert Ellis, UVA Board of Visitors — Portrait of Youngkin's controversial appointee on the UVA campus, July 2022; image syndicated across multiple Post stories through 2025 as the Ellis story continued
Southwest Virginia Floods — Photo documentation of flood devastation in Buchanan County, July 2022
Mike Pence at UVA — Photo coverage of former Vice President Mike Pence's speech at the University of Virginia and the student protest response, April 2022 (syndicated via Getty Images)
Long Covid — Portrait and photo essay on a young woman navigating the medical system after multiple Covid infections
The New York Times
Unite the Right, Charlottesville — Assigned coverage of the candlelight vigil at the University of Virginia Rotunda following the white nationalist attacks, August 2017
Unite the Right, Charlottesville — Portrait session with survivors of the car attack that killed Heather Heyer, August 2017
The Lily (A publication of The Washington Post, 2017–2022)
New Charlottesville Police Chief — Profile and photo coverage
NBC News
Virginia Political Dysfunction — Photo and field reporting on scandals engulfing the Virginia state government
Columbia Journalism Review
Charlottesville coverage and media accountability reporting, 2017–2018
Virginia Quarterly Review
Editorial photography
RVA Magazine (Contributing Photographer)
Unite the Right — Extended photo essay documenting the KKK rally, June 2017, and the white nationalist rally, August 2017, Charlottesville
Refugee — Photo documentary on Congolese families resettled in suburban Henrico County
Juggalo Justice — Portrait coverage of the Insane Clown Posse's March on Washington, DC
Untold Virginia — Ongoing photo-driven column documenting underrepresented communities across the Commonwealth
LONG-FORM PROJECTS
MUSEUM — A multi-year project photographing museum visitors across the country in their natural habitat
UNREST — A multi-year project documenting the civil unrest during Donald Trumps first term
Coverage for terrorist attack in Charlottesville, VA | The New York Times
In August 2017, Lappa was assigned by The New York Times to cover a series of events related to the white nationalist terrorist attacks in Charlottesville, Virginia, including a front-page story featuring the candlelight vigil at the University of Virginia.
Cover story | Instagram | Sisters
Coverage of Terrorist Attack in Charlottesville, VA | RVA Magazine
RVA Magazine printed several images from my coverage of the KKK rally in June of 2017 and the white nationalist rally in August of 2017, both occurred in downtown Charlottesville, VA. Online article here.
THE LIVES DESTROYED BY THE MOUNTAIN VALLEY PIPELINE | RVA Magazine
Assignment to document the plight of people being cast aside in the construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline in western Virginia. Article here.
