Series - FotoSlovo 2026 - Category « Fine Art »
Honorable Mention
In Quiet is a photographic series created inside a stripped-down bathroom in an abandoned house in Potrero Hill, San Francisco. The space remained constant while the people changed. Artists, dancers, ministers, journalists, musicians, and strangers entered one by one, each bringing their own energy. Some protested. Some performed. Others sat in silence. What unfolded was not about the fixture in the room, but about presence — how a private space transforms when it becomes a stage.
The room was bare. Hard light. No decoration. No escape. The simplicity created both comfort and tension. Participants were confronted with themselves, yet held by the intimacy of the space. Laughter filled the room. So did grief, reflection, play, and resistance. The photographs became less about portraiture and more about what happens when people are given permission to simply exist.
Created during a period of social and political tension in the United States, In Quiet reflects a range of American expressions — individuality, vulnerability, protest, humor, and resilience. The participants mirror a country navigating identity and division while searching for connection. Some images carry quiet introspection, others defiance. Together, they form an emotional portrait rather than a literal one, capturing how people hold uncertainty, hope, and personal truth.
The house itself carried a sense of impermanence. Bank-owned and vacant for years, it held traces of past lives. By bringing people into this forgotten place, the work shifted the energy — transforming neglect into connection. The bathroom, once private and overlooked, became a platform for expression. Each person shaped the space differently.
The project concluded with an act of destruction. The toilet, painted and then smashed, marked the end of the series. This final gesture reinforced the central idea: nothing is permanent. The space existed, held stories, and disappeared. What remains are quiet moments shaped by vulnerability, contradiction, and humanity.
