SFBG: What inspired you to pick up a camera? Do you carry one with you?
HRR: I carry two cameras with me. An small Olympus point 'n' shoot (the good one with the 2.8 aperture) and a small 1979 Nikon EM that randomly has a customized blue body. I bought it on the street somewhere. I started shooting when I was 16 years old. My aunt Judy was a photojournalist for a local paper in Bishop, Ca. I picked up an old camera, she taught me how to use it and I've carried one -- or two -- around with me ever since.

Photo of Cookie Tuff's "Unashamed" tattoo, by Jessie Evans, from Cutter Photozine

SFBG: Cutter really shows San Francisco and the Bay Area, it doesn't package it. What do you love about the city and what do you hate about it?
HRR: I love the mix of people in San Francisco. I mostly stay in the Mission and the TL. I love the pigeons, the produce, the family businesses that have managed to hang on, the Alemany farm, the shoes on telephone wires, the taco trucks, the kids, icons like Virginia the Tamale lady, the crazy artists and the urban decay. I also like that I can print in an old school darkroom at the Photo Epicenter on Lilac Alley in the Mission. It's becoming my home away from home!
I dislike the gentrification, the commodification of all things creative, the poor way that many people treat pigeons and homeless people, the fact that it is so expensive to live here, and I hate that it's hard to be an artist or to raise a family if you're not rich. I also like skaters but hate that my favorite park, Potrero del Sol, is now a skate park. I liked it better before -- there would be families celebrating Quinceaneras, dudes playing soccer, homeless people, punks having free shows etc., all existing in relative harmony in the same park. Now it's mostly skaters -- at least when I've been there. A lot of whom seem to be from other neighborhoods. I'm all for skate parks. Just wish it had been built somewhere else. There's also a giant fence around it now. I realllly hate that.

Photo by Amos Mac, from Cutter Photozine

SFBG: The first issue of Cutter spotlights the photography of Ace Morgan. How did you find about him and what do you like about his photos? (PS: Besides the Detroit stuff -- I lived on Woodward -- I love the Mission Police Station photo.)
HRR: I first saw Ace Morgan's work at the old Balazo Gallery 10 years ago. He was doing a slide show. I watched it over and over again for hours. It was the most powerful photography I had ever seen. I had never been effected by photographs in the way that I was by his. Not only were they technically brilliant, he was showing this gritty punk rock side of life that many folks rarely see, and was doing so with compassion and respect because it was also his life that he was showing.
I remember seeing the Wiz series, where he had documented his friend who was a heroin addict. It was sad and beautiful. He caught many tender moments amidst all of the ugliness. It was so real and non-exploitative. I could see that he really knew and loved this heroin-addicted person.
When Alison (O'Connell) and I first talked about putting together this zine it was only natural for Ace to be our first feature. He had such a rich history of work that we felt really needed to be recorded somewhere. I felt very honored that our zine got to be the first to publish his work. It feels so great to be able to feature the photographer who has been the most influential to my own work. I feel like Ace really embodies the concept of shooting what you know instead of exploiting the other. This is an idea that iis the driving force behind Cutter Photozine and what makes different than what is already out there.

Photo by Alison O'Connell, from Cutter Photozine

SFBG: Cutter's first issue was called "Creating a Scene." This next issue is called "Leaving a Mark." What kind of photos do you have so far, and what kind of images or subjects have emerged from that theme?
HRR: I don't want to give away too much about what's going to be in our next issue, but I will say that we have already received a ton of awesome images. Some people have taken the "Leaving a Mark" theme very literally The first photo we got was of a giant Sharpie. Ha. We have also had some folks explore the theme a bit more. We have gotten everything from photos of folks train hopping, tagging, peeing etc. to images of gravestones, hickeys, relatives, icons, things that are no longer around. We even got some great submissions from a certain famous S&M photographer.
It's been really great that so far everyone submitting seems to be keeping the concept of "shooting what you know" in mind. We are very excited about the next issue and are taking submissions through Aug 31st.

Photo by Darcy Sharpe of cake fight in Dolores Park, from Cutter Photozine