SEE: Photo Book Of 1990s Williamsburg Captures Decades Of Change

WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN — When brothers Damian and Dominic Bielak were growing up in Williamsburg, they would sometimes look over to the crowded streets of Manhattan and wonder why it was so different from the small, industrial neighborhood they called home.

"We could bike over the bridge and see this whole different world — there was so much life in Manhattan," Damian said, explaining the "desolate" feeling of Williamsburg back in the 1990s and early 2000s. "You could see across the East River and wonder, why are we so neglected (over here)?"

Fast-forward a few decades into Williamsburg's trendy development boom, though, and outsiders might now be looking at the neighborhood's own bustling streets the way the Bielaks once looked at Manhattan, Damian said.

But the feeling from the time before is still there, he added, at the very least because it is captured in photos — now featured in a new book the brothers have put together called "I Can Be Pretty Too."

The book, released over the weekend, includes more than 100 photos of the neighborhood during the 1990s taken by photographer and family friend Terrence Miele, along with writings by the Bielak brothers.

"I was helping (Miele) organize his home...and I would come across negatives and see my childhood in them," Damian explained. "I would see pictures and see a place I kind of missed. I just found more and more."

In all, the brothers found 3,000 or so photos of the neighborhood. They hope, with their creative collective The Brooklyn Social Club, to use the photos to memorialize the Williamsburg they called home.

Damian said he and his brother recognized many of the places they used to go when growing up on Berry Street. Some of his favorites include spots they used to skateboard by the waterfront, which he said is probably the best example for how the neighborhood has changed. In the 1990s photos, there isn't a car or person to be seen around the subject, something that would never be the case with today's busy streets.

"I Can Be Pretty Too," which focuses on the more fashion-focused photos, is the first step in memorializing this time period, Damian said. It was released along with a photo exhibit over the weekend at the Sideshow Gallery.

The second part of the project will include finding some of the people in the remaining photos and possibly having them re-create the photo or offer memories to be featured in another book in their handwriting, Damian said. He added that the process of finding those people has already started thanks to the release of the first book.

"(The exhibit) was quite overwhelming, it was kind of a reunion," he said. "It was people I hadn’t seen in a while and one of the people in the photos showed up."

The project, he said, will help the Brooklyn Social Club's goal of creating a community of people that can help one another out when resources are scarce.

Williamsburg may have changed from the way it was in the photos in the book, he added, but there are still those who grew up during that time that struggle with the same feeling of neglect or are having a hard time.

"It wasn't easy and as children we wanted these things...but the thing about these changes is people don’t feel like these changes are for them," he said. "They feel left out and neglected — it's kind of a private university and you can’t afford to get in."

The brothers hope the book can continue to make those connections to grow the social club.

"The book was a debut for all of this," he said. "People show up and say, 'I hear you're working on rekindling this friendship.' It gives a domain for information about these lives."