diff --git a/Dockerfile.backend b/Dockerfile.backend
index 0bc3397..342bb31 100644
--- a/Dockerfile.backend
+++ b/Dockerfile.backend
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ COPY --from=builder --chown=node:node /app/package.json ./package.json
 COPY --from=builder --chown=node:node /app/packages/backend/dist ./packages/backend/dist
 COPY --from=builder --chown=node:node /app/packages/backend/node_modules ./packages/backend/node_modules
 COPY --from=builder --chown=node:node /app/packages/backend/package.json ./packages/backend/package.json
-COPY --from=builder --chown=node:node /app/packages/backend/src/migrations ./packages/backend/migrations
+COPY --from=builder --chown=node:node /app/packages/backend/src/migrations ./packages/backend/dist/migrations
 
 RUN mkdir -p /data/uploads && chown node:node /data/uploads
 
diff --git a/packages/backend/src/index.ts b/packages/backend/src/index.ts
index f2cab34..f2f7b69 100644
--- a/packages/backend/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/backend/src/index.ts
@@ -15,12 +15,19 @@ import { buildContext } from "./graphql/context";
 import { db } from "./db/connection";
 import { redis } from "./lib/auth";
 import { logger } from "./lib/logger";
+import { migrate } from "drizzle-orm/node-postgres/migrator";
 
 const PORT = parseInt(process.env.PORT || "4000");
 const UPLOAD_DIR = process.env.UPLOAD_DIR || "/data/uploads";
 const CORS_ORIGIN = process.env.CORS_ORIGIN || "http://localhost:3000";
 
 async function main() {
+  // Run pending DB migrations before starting the server
+  const migrationsFolder = path.join(__dirname, "migrations");
+  logger.info(`Running migrations from ${migrationsFolder}`);
+  await migrate(db, { migrationsFolder });
+  logger.info("Migrations complete");
+
   const fastify = Fastify({ loggerInstance: logger });
 
   await fastify.register(fastifyCookie, {
diff --git a/packages/backend/src/migrations/meta/_journal.json b/packages/backend/src/migrations/meta/_journal.json
index c45056d..55d4744 100644
--- a/packages/backend/src/migrations/meta/_journal.json
+++ b/packages/backend/src/migrations/meta/_journal.json
@@ -22,6 +22,13 @@
       "when": 1741337600000,
       "tag": "0002_remove_archived_recording_status",
       "breakpoints": true
+    },
+    {
+      "idx": 3,
+      "version": "7",
+      "when": 1741420000000,
+      "tag": "0003_model_photo",
+      "breakpoints": true
     }
   ]
 }
\ No newline at end of file