Obscene Interiors by Justin Jorgensen Photography

Obscene Interiors is a collection of real online male personal ad photos and my critique of the decorating found within.

(No need to shield your timid eyes, the often-nude figures have been laboriously obscured.)

This is the online edition, Obscene Interiors is a book too with way more, and totally different pictures: Obscene Interiors: Hardcore Amateur Decor, with a foreword by Todd Oldham. Need 
Christmas gifts? It's only $12.

Dirty pillow talk: Justin Jorgensen's Obscene Interiors explores what's really disgusting about Web porn--people's furniture.


Justin Jorgensen has never dated, hooked up with, or even met any of the 56 men depicted in his new book, Obscene Interiors, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have feelings for them. "I ended up sort of falling in love with the guys," admits the Fargo, N.D., native, who works as a freelance designer for entertainment ventures in <Los Angeles. "I began to see men in general as this big group of bumbling fellows who just can't seem to ever get it fight."

By "it," Jorgensen means home decor, for Obscene Interiors is not about what men do in their bedrooms; it's about how they deck them out. The author pulled the book's images from male personal ads he found on the Web--some from gay sites, some not. Then, after Photoshop-ing away the subjects' identities, he would pen  affectionately biting commentary about their decorating to go with each picture, like "That couch would look totally great if it was on fire being thrown from a bridge" and "Something wicker this way comes."

"I didn't want it to just be negative and constantly say 'Oh, my God, look at how awful that is!'" says Jorgensen, who began posting the interiors on his Web site, JustinSpace.com, in 1999. "Please--my home doesn't look any better. It's a huge mess."

While Interiors--with its mix of  humor and voyeurism--could turn out to be the gag gift of the year, Jorgensen hopes that readers see there's more going on than just cheap shots at cheap furnishings. "I've spent a great deal of time thinking about what it means to decorate as a man," says the author, who's working to turn Interiors into a TV show. "What's so interesting to me is this constant conflict in men between what's masculine and how you decorate. How do you fill your room as a man and still be a man?"

Well, judging by the shots in Interiors, you keep your plants around even if they're dead. "What really  amazed me is seeing how different men from around the world would do the same ridiculous things," says Jorgensen with a laugh, "like putting their dying plants up on big pedestals or using cardboard boxes as end tables. Or they'd make everything symmetrical, thinking, If it's symmetrical, it looks prettier."

Speaking of pretty, some of the  presumably available gents featured look pretty hot, even in silhouette. "We made a conscious decision to not show any penis silhouettes, but people still think they see them," says Jorgensen. "They'll say, 'I saw your book with all the schlongs hanging out.' I'm like, 'There's no schlongs.'"

There are, however, a lot of men out there who have no problem telling the world that they use their stereo speakers as shelves. "I'm really conflicted about the speakers-as-shelves thing," he admits. "Can it really be that bad if everyone's doing it?"

Fresh flowers, even just one, make all the difference. But throw it out once they wilt. Don't be like those maudlin teens who decorate their rooms in Phantom of the Opera posters and drama awards and pin each dead rose around their vanity like it's the last one they'll ever get.

Speakers are not shelves or pedestals. They're just speakers. Let them be. Don't try softening them with garage sale arrangements.

FYI: If you fill your couches with too many pillows your guests will end up sitting on the floor.


See also Meetingplaces Amsterdam 1991 from Bart Sorgedrager ...