Contender Kyle T. Pierce's illustrations of maps drawn over photographs give geographic contextualization to his portraits of place. Both an illustrator and photographer, Kyle's pen and pencil are as strongly guided by the lines and shapes of the objects in the images as they are by his imagination and memory. His series' work together—sometimes with contiguous illustrations meant to connect images—to tell both fantastic and narrative stories of personal adventures. At times, the illustrations take on more abstract concepts, connecting ordinary objects like this car interior to an anatomy of Things that were lost (what I have found).

He writes,

There is an immediacy to drawing by hand that makes the end product feel more "alive." I use primarily pencil, ink, and oil pastel, and draw from life, photographs, and memory. In recent years, my illustrations have incorporated photography, allowing me to merge the real and surreal in an authentic way. The (3) submitted photographs are from 'Montpelier' and were shot during the 4th of July parade in 2006. In 2008/2009, the series was overlaid with fragments of a hand-drawn map of Vermont copied from the 1930 edition of the 'Commercial Atlas of the World'.

Kyle's drawings are often guided by the typographic, with slogans like "Stop searching forever, happiness is just next to you" written in playful cursive over photographs of his children splashing in a pool. The words and photographs both take on new meaning as one views the work—concentrating on the text and image as discrete and unified entities. They recall the optimism and wonder in simple joys conveyed in 20x200 edition-maker Shaun Sundholm's Untitled (Let's Get Lost), where he states, "Let's find some beautiful place to get lost."

Kyle's work also summons photographer and illustrator Jane Tam's series to the fun house, which also integrates both mediums. Her line drawings depict men and woman entangled in everyday activities like strumming the guitar or sitting at the office, though often—unlike Kyle's—laced with flirtatious innuendo.

Many more of Kyle's joyful illustrations, photographs, and illustrated photographs are available on his website. Where photographic memory does not do an experience justice, Kyle is on-hand to add aesthetic accent.