VALPARAISO | At first glance, the exhibit by a young Hobart photographer seems locked in the past.

An image of a half-century-old refrigerator rests with those of vinyl records and a brick basement foundation wall.

But listening to Adam Jackson describe the process of creating the exhibit, "... where the heart is," reveals the immediacy of his project.

Jackson, a Valparaiso University senior art major from Hobart, took homes lived in by the same residents for more than 30 years as the subject of his 22-photo exhibit, which opened Monday.

The 2006 Andrean High School graduate focused on the dated features and furnishings in the Hobart and Merrillville homes of his two sets of grandparents but found lessons for today in them.

"I've been in my grandparents' houses since I was little," Jackson said, "(but) I never stopped to look around.

"If you were to visually describe both my grandpas, it would be through their garages."

His father's father, Jackson said, "has a collection of screwdrivers that would drive you crazy. He's always building something or throwing something together. He's got very rough hands because he's always doing something with his hands."

Although a home is a reflection of the person who lives in it, Jackson said, he doesn't want viewers to see a record of specific homeowners. Instead, he hopes viewers can find something familiar, something they can connect to, in the photographs.

On the technical side, too, Jackson reached into the past for inspiration.

He used film for the project, developing the negatives and printing the images in a darkroom.

Creating them "by hand" as opposed to digitally on a computer called for putting more of himself into the effort, he said.

"Dust on your negative will drive you insane," he said, clamping a palm to his forehead.

He also chose to shoot his images in black and white, which he said he finds "more elegant" than color.

Documenting the possessions of older people led Jackson to look forward.

"I became curious about what my house would be filled with at that age," he said.

"Our generation doesn't appreciate stuff as much as older people do."

But the young man's careful consideration through film of his grandparents' possessions and lives may put the lie to that statement.

"... where the heart is" will be on display until April 2 in the Strimbu Gallery of Photography on the second floor of the VU Center for the Arts. An opening reception will be from 4 to 6 p.m. Feb. 19.

The free exhibit is open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays.