New Jersey may be the most misunderstood state in the nation. Certainly the most maligned. But those of us who know our home state can see the beauty in everyday settings.

Like Mark Krajnak, a Pennsylvania native who moved here back in 1998 and fell in love with the giant photo op in which we live. He was inspired to find art in ordinary life.

This Mercer County resident drives with his camera on the front seat, recording the seemingly mundane and the magnificent. He promised himself that he would take one photograph every day, to improve his skills. In 2007, he did just that.

Mark snapped the farms and fields of Mercer, Monmouth and Somerset counties. He shot the parade of motels and bars along racier stretches of highway. You can see his collection of of New Jersey photos at www.flickr.com:80/photos/mark_k_nj/show.

Nothing is too commonplace to look uncommon, from the sun striking the side of a barn to a fiery neon diner to the sadly neglected buildings of Asbury Park,  just awaiting the developer’s wrecking ball.  

During his daily commute between his home and his job at Johnson & Johnson in New Brunswick,  Krajnak sees gritty and interesting where most of us see warehouses, strip malls, and sprawl. He even created a series of photos with an ongoing fictionalized plot, stylized to look like his favorite film noir scenes.   

Take some time today and browse Mark’s collection. You’ll feel like a tourist in  New Jersey.