40 Women Over 40: A Photo Series

Jamie Kirschner’s project highlights just how fresh life beyond 40 can be

By Kierstin Gunsberg | Aug. 16, 2025

They say age is just a number. But when the big 4-0 started creeping around the corner, Traverse City photographer Jamie Kirschner (owner of Crackerjack Photography) felt an impending feeling that she wouldn’t exactly label as excitement. After all, cultural perception hasn’t always been kind to women of a certain age.

“I had some kind of yucky feelings about turning 40,” says Kirschner. “You know, getting old, getting wrinkly—all the things that society tells us are bad about aging.”

Instead of just bracing herself for the milestone, she decided to temper her apprehension with curiosity and dove head first into her “40 Over 40” series in spring of 2024. Working out of her studio/event rental space in the original Mundos Roasting building right across from The Kitchen, Kirschner has spent the past year capturing images of 40 northern Michigan women over the age of 40—jumping for joy, lost in reflection, or mid-laugh as metallic confetti rains down.

“It’s not like a completely original idea that I made up,” she says, noting other photographers have done similar projects. But for Kirschner, it’s been integral to processing the next decade of her life while sorting out what it means to keep momentum as the years press on.

“I really wanted to do this project to show myself that it wasn’t something to be afraid of and it could actually be something that’s celebrated, that there are things to look forward to.” She adds, “It’s not like you reach a certain age and then you just expire or it goes downhill after that.”

Celebration and Vitality

Before taking her first portrait with her Canon 5D Mark IV, Kirschner spent time defining what the project meant to her.

“Two big words that came up for me were ‘celebration,’ so celebrating everything that these women have done up until this point,” she explains. “Vitality” was the other word that stuck out. “Learning about all the things that they still aspire to do—it’s not like they’re just giving up on life.”

Once she put the word out through social media, her inbox quickly filled with interest. Each session begins with a phone interview where Kirschner gets to know what the women are most proud of in their lives and what brings them their bliss, whether it’s devouring books, spending time in nature, or hopping on a motorcycle.

Throughout the process, one theme continues to surface: pressure.

“I feel like there’s a lot more pressure on women to not age… we’re supposed to try and preserve our youth as long as possible,” says Kirschner. But the women she’s met through the project aren’t buying into it. “I'm looking at these people, and they’re all just super positive people who have this great outlook on life. You know, they’re just happy to be alive and they love dancing and learning new things.”

Second Act Personas

Kirschner, who grew up in Alpena and earned a photography degree from Grand Valley State, has spent much of her career photographing families along the coast and shooting headshots for professionals. But “40 Over 40” is not that, explains Kirschner. Her subjects—who are all between the ages of 40 and 72—are required to leave their families and job titles at the door (though some pets have made their way in).

Instead, they bring with them only the clothing and props that represent who they are outside of the roles they accumulated in life’s first act, because, as Kirschner puts it, the project is “more than the photograph. It’s about the experience for them, just taking a whole day where it's just about them.”

And it’s a long day. Each session runs four to five hours and includes multiple outfit changes, lots of pampering and styling by Kirschner’s makeup and hair partners, and hours of shaking off camera-shyness. It’s also “nourishing” she says. “Every single person, when they leave the studio, they’re like, ‘that was so much fun.’”

While Kirschner originally hoped to wrap the series in time for her own 40th birthday back in March, she still has a handful of sessions left, with plans to culminate in a gallery exhibition and a coffee table book that will feature portraits alongside short essays from each subject.

“When I first started the project, I had some fear,” she admits. “I was like, ‘what if this is dumb or no one cares? What if it’s stupid?’ And then I did like three phone interviews and I was like, ‘OK, I’m getting everything I need.’ I don’t even care what the photographs look like at this point—I just wanted to learn from them.”

Telling Stories

From left to right, top to bottom, here are the stories of the women featured in Kirschner's photos above. 

Vicki, 61: A part-time Floridian, dancer, and Harley rider, “Vicki has an amazing love for life,” says Kirschner. “She feels like she is ‘just beginning’!”

Julie, 57: Lifelong learner Julie told Kirschner she’s come to see the value in not always having the answers, something Kirschner says comes with age: “We are not pretending to be anything we are not or to know things we don’t.”

Tina, 42: Tina shared with Kirschner that in the wake of her mother’s passing she’s learning the value of presence over performance, especially in her own role as a mother. “Motherhood is a profound part of who she is,” notes Kirschner.

Cathy, 66: From running a dance studio while raising her children, to working in insurance and even photography, Cathy says, “I’ve done a lot of different things.” But told Kirschner she’s still looking forward,adding, “Anything you want to do is possible—just go for it!”

Holly, 48: Kirschner already knew Holly, but says she was “absolutely blown away” after learning that Holly has a 2nd degree black belt, once broke 38 bones as a youth MMA fighter, and now runs a veteran-focused nonprofit called Charlie Golf One. “There is so much to this woman!”

Deb, 65: “Find people who give you energy.” That’s a piece of wisdom Deb shared with Kirschner, who says, “That has stayed with me. And looking back, I realize that’s exactly what I’ve been doing throughout this whole project.”

Tiffany, 46: Tiffany “showed up in a red suit, something she never would’ve worn in the past,” recalls Kirschner, saying their session felt less like business and more like “two old friends catching up,” a reflection of the “soul-deep connection” this project has given her with the women.

Brenna, 48: Six years ago, Brenna reinvented herself as a real estate agent in a move she credits to her moxie and determination to focus on positive life habits. She told Kirschner: “My goal is to meet new people and have a good time doing it; if I can make money doing it, then that is success!”

Michelle, 60: Michelle shared her childhood dream of being a ballerina, so Kirschner told her to bring a ballet-esque outfit for the shoot. “This project has taught me something so powerful—when I can tap into someone’s inner child, their portraits become effortless, joyful, and truly authentic.”

Valerie, 72: Valerie’s consulting practice guides women on how to shape careers that serve their lives, and not the other way around. It’s a lesson hard-won in Valerie’s own life. As she told Kirschner, with aging, your “bullsh*t tolerance and estrogen drop at the same rate.”

Stay tuned for the conclusion of the series by watching Kirschner’s Facebook page, facebook.com/crackerjackphotographystudio.