AN INTERVIEW WITH JERRY HSU
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? So that was your big break? Do you remember anything annoying Vice has done to you? I’ve seen your negative pile, it’s pretty impressive. What do you think Vice’s role in photography is? Are there photographers in there that you like? Remember when we went to Kentucky to do the Appalachia Issue? Yeah, I’m glad you came. That was a cool issue, I think. Was there any time you were ever pissed off at Vice? Read the rest of our interview with the very likeable Jerry here.
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.
Yeah, I think so.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
That whole experience was amazing. I kind of want to do it again.
Pissed off at Vice? No, not really. I mean…
