Frye Art Museum unveils a new collection from a gifted local shutterbug.

“I never cared for art class,” Isaac Layman told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer in June 2010, when his “110%” exhibit opened at Lawrimore Project. Instead, the locally-raised photographer invented his own technique — take several shots of a stationary object from the same angle (with a basic digital camera), and then focus on varying depths to mask the actual distance inside a given space.

The finished product is essentially a series of multiple shots stitched together to create a single, puzzling image. Mr. Layman’s work provides an entertaining mind game for gallery-goers and fellow photographers alike, best defined as a 21st century take on everyday objects (think spoons and forks in HD). Hours of pain-staking detail work are spent to capture each muse, whether it’s a sink of dirty dishes or the outline of a tumbling dryer. And you thought your co-workers were quirky.

Layman, 34, started snapping black-and-white images with his father’s camera when he was a teenager. After he spent a few weeks developing resolutions, the young shutterbug realized he found his calling, and he began to sharpen his skills within Whidbey Island’s idyllic setting. In 2002, he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in photography from the University of Washington.

Since his debut exhibition at the Lawrimore Project in 2007, his work has been displayed in Boston, Houston, New York, Rome and New Zealand, and he has permanent installations at Seattle’s Henry Art Gallery and The Museum of Fine Arts Houston.

“Paradise,” Layman’s newest collection is scheduled to open at Frye Art Museum on Saturday, Nov. 19. For the collection, he not only photographed his own modest possessions, but also restored them right in his living room using a mammoth, 500-pound printer. That’s right, Layman does all his prints himself. Pretty humble for a 34-year-old.

“Paradise” will be displayed at Frye Art Museum until Sunday, Jan. 22. If visitors are intrigued by Layman’s work, a catalog of his work will be available for purchase at the museum, starting in early December. This volume contains a large collection of Layman’s work, as well as an essay about the photographer by Seattle novelist Doug Nufer (“Never Again”).  As always, admission to the Frye is free to the public (donations are always welcome).

“Paradise” by Isaac Layman at Frye Art Museum  |  Saturday, Nov. 19 — Sunday, Jan. 22