Capricious Bookshop’s Pick of the Week: Growing Up by Patrick Tsai and Coley Brown
Capricious Bookshop’s pick of the week is Growing Up. This 32 page zine features the collaborated works of NYC-based photographer, Coley Brown, and Tokyo-based photographer, Patrick Tsai. Instead of the usual review, I thought I would interview the guys on their point of view of the project!
First question: I read that you guys first met in Tokyo. When and how did you decide to collaborate on this project?
P: Well, I guess Coley and I have known about each other because of the internet for awhile but we never got in touch until Coley actually came to visit Japan for the first time. We became quick friends. Our photo styles began rubbing off on each other, so we wanted to find some way to collaborate together. We brainstormed forever until we finally came up with the theme Growing Up.
How has the project evolved since you first started it?
P: Well, it changed the way I began seeing things since I now had a theme to view the world with.
C: Sometimes the posts on Growing Up are sort of light hearted, but a lot of the time I am really emotionally connected to the subjects. It’s about who or what I am really thinking about , or missing. I think as our project progresses I am generally more interested in documenting what matters most in my heart.
What does “Growing Up” represent? How did you decide on this concept?
P: Well it is what we and everybody in the Universe has to deal with on daily basis. It is such a loose theme that it gives us lots of flexibility to work with. For example, in the beginning I was looking outwards, photographing strangers, trying to show as wide a spectrum as possible, but recently I been taking more personal pictures going back to my early days at photography, and I think that’s okay because sometimes when you see a slice of something, you can see it more clearly than when you try to look at too much.
What other projects have you been working on lately?
C: Lately I’m really excited by making more photo books of my own and also contributing to magazines and things when I can. I just finished a project with 0-100 books (italy) called cabin and woods and I hope to be making several more book projects soon.
P: Random stuff.
How does your other work tie in/ differentiate from “Growing Up”?
C: It’s pretty funny because most of my work has very little to do with people, or at least they aren’t seen very much because it’s more about nature. But with growing up, I tend to use photographs that are rather direct portraits sometimes. I think Patrick is really good at going up to people who he doesn’t know, or getting himself right in the middle of some strange situation that he sees in the corner of his eye. I usually do my own thing and photograph things and people that are very close to me personally, however this project with Patrick has opened me up a little bit to really engage with strangers- they can be so exciting!
What is the future of this project? Will you continue with just the blog or is another zine in the works?
P: A while back, we talked about trying to get an exhibition in Japan one day… and if that happens, we might make a new zine.
C: I hope to keep this visual dialogue for a long time. we will see!
For more information on this project, visit Pat and Coley’s blog at http://www.growing–up.blogpspot.com/
Check out a few of their photos below, and get your own copy of Growing Up for just $12! Capricious Bookshop is located at 80 South 6th St., between Bedford and Berry and open Wednesday-Saturday, 12-6pm.
Posted by: Jessica Olm
