California-based photographer and legendary pro-skateboarder Jerry Hsu will be releasing his second book, The Beautiful Flower Is the World, this Spring with Anthology Editions. Hsu began his blog, NAZI GOLD, in 2009 as a curated “feed” of cell phone photos, in addition to his work with traditional photography and film practices. The blog showcased Hsu’s unique razor-sharp wit and fascination with life’s absurdities through unplanned snapshots of friends and strangers, skate culture, roadside curiosities, juxtapositions and anything else that he deemed sharable.
In the ensuing years, the site grew from an exercise in visual notetaking into a uniquely humorous embodiment of Hsu’s keen artistic sensibility. The Beautiful Flower Is the World is exactly that: an unerringly creative and endlessly clever chronicle of the deep ironies of our modern world, explored through the artist’s street photography.
The title is taken from a photo of a t-shirt Hsu found and documented, a poetic summation of the ironic or cynical take on the happenstance findings explored in the book. The Beautiful Flower Is the World takes its readers through the artist’s journey weaving the high and low trappings of American culture with photography, capturing everything from bootleg t-shirts and bathroom stall graffiti to unexpected truths and the occasional subtleties of human folly – from childish fun with a shopping basket over a young boy’s head to a snap of Spiderman peering from a window ledge.
Hsu’s Instagram @internetfamous has caught the interest of over 150K followers who witness his multifaceted life as a pro skateboarder, artist and a voyeur. Prior to The Beautiful Flower Is the World, Hsu produced numerous creative zines, and in 2013 published his first photography book, The Killing Season. His Table for One series received viral attention, documenting strangers eating alone in restaurants, a fascination and personal preference of the artist.
The Beautiful Flower Is the World will be released on May 21st, 2019, and draws the best of Hsu’s blog photography into a compelling and immersive new volume. With reference to its genesis as an online blog, the book features matte black gilding on the outside page edges and metallic gold silk screening on the cover. As part of the first edition, an undisclosed number of signed photo prints will be placed inside a select number of books sold exclusively on the publisher’s website. Launch events and accompanying exhibitions are planned for the US and abroad, starting in Los Angeles.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jerry Hsu is a photographer and professional skateboarder based in Los Angeles, California. As a photographer, he is noted for his early blogs, NAZI GOLD and Table for One. His work has appeared in publications including The New York Times Magazine, Vice, iGNANT, and Lodown Magazine; and he has exhibited in Sweden, Berlin, Los Angeles, New York, Prague, Milan and Tokyo. Prior to The Beautiful Flower Is the World, Hsu published numerous zines, as well as his first photography book, The Killing Season, in 2013.
