Our featured photographer today is Jerry Hsu. Here’s an interview we did with him that was originally published in The Vice Photo Book in 2007.

Vice: Do you remember the first time you had a photo in Vice?
Jerry Hsu: I think it was that one photo issue with the Terry picture on the cover with the kid with his hand in the guy’s mouth. Tim Barber was the photo editor at the time and I was staying with him. I had a bunch of photos in a box and he scanned them all. That’s pretty much how it happened.

So that was your big break?
Yeah, I think so.

Do you remember anything annoying Vice has done to you?
Well… (laughs) I think this is kind of normal Vice protocol, but they call me a day before something is due and they make it seem like a total emergency and I have to drop everything. I’m super unorganized, so it’s not that easy to find a photo. I don’t have a binder or cool filing system or anything so sometimes it’s kind of a nightmare, but then it’s cool when the photo gets printed so I don’t really care.

I’ve seen your negative pile, it’s pretty impressive.
It’s so shocking. I just throw my pictures on a pile. It’s a total nightmare. Every time I go through the process of finding something for someone, I say to myself, “Oh man I gotta start getting organized and get like binders and you know, blah blah blah.” When people see the desktop on my computer they want to clean it up for me. Like a friend saw my desktop the other day and was like, “Dude I just want to clean your desktop right now cause it’s annoying the hell out of me.”

What do you think Vice‘s role in photography is? Are there photographers in there that you like?
Totally. I mean a lot of the names that I can think of off the top of my head right now are just like no-brainers. As far as Vice‘s role in photography, I think they developed a stereotypical of photography, like the shocking photo of your friend throwing up, or a bar fight, or weird titty situations. But I mean there are really good photographs in Vice too. Sometimes. Not always, but sometimes.

Remember when we went to Kentucky to do the Appalachia Issue?
Yeah, it was like a trip I wasn’t even supposed to go on. But when you told me you were going I was like, “I really want to come too.” I bought my own ticket. It turned out to be really fun.

Yeah, I’m glad you came. That was a cool issue, I think.
That whole experience was amazing. I kind of want to do it again.

Was there any time you were ever pissed off at Vice?
Pissed off at Vice? No, not really. I mean…

Wasn’t there one time where I was getting a cover from you and Jesse was getting a cover from Ryan McGinley? You went through all that torture and FedExed it in and we were like, “Oh shit. We are running this McGinley cover.”
Oh yeah. It wasn’t a big deal to me, but just the principle of going through all that trouble at the last second with you guys making it sound like kind of an emergency, but then you didn’t use it. I wasn’t pissed, but I felt like I should say something. So I did.

I’m trying to think of you getting pissed off. Like man, Ryan and Gavin had a fist fight one time.
Oh really?

Yeah. They had it out in front of Max Fish. But you never kicked my ass or Tim’s ass.
No. Maybe someday. Maybe after this book comes out you’ll piss me off so bad that I’ll fly out and push you into traffic.

So where are you right now?
I’m in Marseille, France.

Oh, you’re on a skate tour with your new sponsor right? Have you been shooting photos?
Yeah, actually I have been. I was really uninspired for a while and I hadn’t really been shooting, but on this trip it’s been so fun being around all these new people that I’m with. Plus just being in France for so long with all this weird stuff happening around me has been pretty inspiring. I’ve been shooting lots of photos.

Is this your first skate tour with Spanky?
It is. It’s funny, he and I were just talking about that. He was saying the other day how he hasn’t been on a vacation sort of a trip without me in a long time, but this is actually our very first tour together. And it’s like we still don’t even skate in front of each other. My ankles hurt and his knees hurt, so we’re just sitting there and hanging out and making fun of everyone else for three weeks

Are you guys being total alcoholics?
Um… yeah. A little bit, just a little bit. Just to calm the shakes.

What’s your process like for taking pictures?
Well usually it’s just waiting around, walking around, and observing. Sometimes I’ll be standing there and get this feeling like, “Maybe if I just walk around this corner,” and then sometimes I do it and there is something cool just waiting there. And I don’t know, sometimes I just tell people to do stuff and they do it.

I’ve noticed that you don’t seem to be a guy that always has a camera around his neck and is always shooting, you know?
Yeah, I’m not really like that. I am carrying a camera most of the time but I just hide it. I don’t want it to be so obvious that I just want to shoot photos

You’ve been around Ryan McGinley when he is taking pictures, and you obviously have a different shooting style than him.
Yeah. Ryan has a more aggressive style of taking photos. Actually, from being around Ryan I’ve started to shoot more at a time. Like, if I shoot a photo of something I try to shoot as many frames as possible. Sometimes you get a photo and it’s not quite right, but if you shoot five or so, chances are way better you’ll get something out of it.

Ryan will have like 17 rolls in his pocket…
Yeah, but that’s only when he finds something he really wants to shoot. When he finds a subject that he likes, he’ll shoot like a million photos.

Totally.
Most of the time you’d never think he was even a photographer if you didn’t know about him because he only shoots certain things–nowadays anyway.

Like if you pull your wiener out he’ll shoot ten rolls.
Well if he likes your wiener. If you have a nice big white wiener.

But he doesn’t want to shoot yours? A Chinese one?
No, I don’t think that’s his cup of tea. He’s never asked to shoot naked pictures of me.

I remember he had this one series where he had naked photos of everybody except Leo, who was in his boxer shorts. I just thought it was funny. Like, “Damn Leo, not really coming through for Ryan, huh?” So listen. Who’s a better photo editor, me or Tim Barber?
Um I’d have to say Ryan.

Ooohhh!
Just kidding.

But yeah, Ryan outranks us.
He has tenure.

He could come in here any minute and just be like, “You’re out!”

PATRICK O’DELL