Ryan Russell

Ryan is an internationally-renowned rock music photographer from the United States. Ryan grew up in the Deep South. We're not talking about the vacation havens of Florida or the Atlanta you saw in a hip hop music video. We're talking about Birmingham, Alabama - the gritty South that has long been known for steel mills, attack dogs, fire hoses and little else.

Growing up in the infamous "Magic City" left a lot to Ryan's imagination, what with hanging around downtown and soaking up the turn-of-the-century architecture and decades of urban blight, which further developed his talent of bringing energy and color out of ordinary scenes. With his unique style, Ryan embraces predecessors of southern culture like William Eggleston and Ernest Withers as well as personal influences like Glen E. Friedman and Charles Peterson to create a new, bold take on classic southern-gothic photography. Ryan captures the grit and energy of today's American music scene much like Lee Friedlander's Atlantic Records work during the 50's and 60's or Anton Corbijn's work with U2 and Joy Division.

Although you wouldn't guess it from meeting this southern gentleman, Ryan has photographed some of the most critically-acclaimed artists of our generation. From shooting the likes of Death Cab for Cutie, Paramore, Blink-182, Green Day, Tegan and Sara, My Chemical Romance, Josh Homme/Queens of the Stone Age, Underoath, Sonic Youth, Patton Oswalt and David Cross, to being printed in magazines like Alternative Press, Rolling Stone, Spin and Playboy or periodicals like The New York Times, The New York Post, The Chicago Reader and The Chicago Sun-Times, Ryan has also toured with the likes of Death Cab for Cutie, Paramore, Taking Back Sunday, Against Me!, and Mastodon, allowing him the opportunity for up close and personal access to these musicians and a chance to showcase their truly unique personalities through photography in a way that words alone cannot.

We are truly pleased to have Mr. Russell as a Friend of Naneu! To find out more information about Ryan, please visit his website at http://www.ryanrussell.net/.