Yu Tsai

Early life and education

Yu Tsai was born in Taiwan and moved to a farm in Indiana with his family as a young child. The family then moved to Chino, California, where Yu Tsai spent his adolescence. He attended Don Antonio Lugo High School, where he was a member of the Future Farmers of America and the track team. After high school, Yu Tsai attended the University of California, Riverside and California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, where he majored in biology. He then attended the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, studying graphic design. It was during this time in his education that he discovered his passion for the arts, along with directing and photography as a means of telling a visual story.

Career

Yu Tsai’s photography has been featured in magazines such as Harper's Bazaar, Marie Claire, and Vogue Japan. He has photographed celebrities including Janet Jackson, Anne Hathaway, Alicia Keys, Ashley Judd, Zhang Ziyi, Ewan McGregor, Rosario Dawson, Lindsay Lohan, Mischa Barton, Sienna Miller, Paz Vega, Ryan Reynolds, Sean Faris, Ryan Gosling and Zooey Deschanel, along with models including Alessandra Ambrosio, Kate Upton, Rosie Huntington, Liliana Dominguez, and Yamila Diaz.

Yu Tsai has collaborated with other commercial directors in treatment writing and script development, and has directed commercials for Aetna, Gateway, and Samsung, among others. As a photographer, he has shot advertising campaigns for companies such as Apple, Clairol, Guess, and Lexus.

Yu Tsai replaced Johnny Wujek as photo shoot creative consultant on America's Next Top Model, beginning with cycle 21.

He also participated in national-wildlife conservation research with the National Geographic Research group.

In 2016, he will be a judge on Asia's Next Top Model Cycle 4 as the new creative director.