home is where... by Summer '07 contender Justin Visnesky

Like his co-contender Mimi Ko, Justin Visnesky likes to take photographs of what he calls "the simple, quiet times in life." And the simplicity of the hidden moment in the above image is exactly what attracts me to it. The image belongs to a series entitled "sometimes you just know" in which Visnesky explored spaces, "inhabited and otherwise."

I am intrigued/obsessed/drawn in by the way spaces are created, whether intentional or not. The "spaces" may be a window display, a sheet on a car window to protect it from snow, the way someone trims their bushes or puts something on their sidewalk. The list goes on and on. My aim is to reinterpret these spaces, creating something completely different, something that may have been originally overlooked or unintended. In the process I hope to create an image that is striking and, at times, humorous; taking the ordinary and making it something more, something for the keeping.

Alongside this sweet and sadly nostalgic image of a discarded balloon, Visnesky's includes images of a sole telephone cord in the corner of a room and a forgotten potted plant in an otherwise beautiful backyard. These moments indeed inhabit the quiet space Visnesky speaks about.

Justin Visnesky grew up in a village in Western Pennsylvania and went to college in "Jimmy Stewart's hometown of Indiana, Pennsylvania!" He now lives close to the Arch in St. Louis, Missouri. Of home and work he says, "The area where I live keeps getting bigger, but I am constantly inspired and influenced by the small place I still call home."

Best of luck, Justin!

The countdown begins once again: 6 days left to enter!