Tokyo Macro Micro

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More About

• Nicholas Vroman
• Virginia Sorrells
• Adobe Photoshop

After about 15 years of photography here in Seattle, Nicholas Vroman recalls, “I quit. I just stopped for several years.” Following an interlude of kicking around the local art scene (including publicity work for Northwest Film Forum), “I met Virginia Sorrells, now my wife, online. It’s a true Internet romance story.” One problem: She was in Tokyo, and Vroman was here. So he moved to Japan in 2007, they married soon thereafter, and then something funny happened. “Coming to Japan just revitalized my interest in photography,” he explains by phone. No more film, no more darkroom, just digital camera and tools. “Photography is a revived passion. Now I’ve gone purely digital. I’ve become a bit of a colorist using Photoshop.” Sorrells, too, is a photographer, and their first joint show is Tokyo Macro Micro (through April 4), comprising some 60 images of quiet street corners, road signs, fish markets, and the like. “We have no Hello Kitty imagery,” says Vroman. “The show, I think, is contemplative. It does sort of eschew the hyper culture.” He and Sorrells, who also work as freelance journalists (including for The New York Times), hope to mount Tokyo Macro Micro as an exhibition back in Japan, then perhaps do a book about local food cultures in that country. On which subject, he adds, “Tokyo is the food capitol of the world, but I’ve yet to find an Ethiopian restaurant over here.” Both artists will be in Seattle to attend this Georgetown Art Attack event. BRIAN MILLER
Feb. 11-April 4, 6 p.m., 2009