Rangefinder Magazine
July 2005
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Profile: John Russo by Harvey Goldstein
The Celebrity Photographer
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| Kevin Costner, see caption 1 below |
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John Russo’s first thoughts of being a celebrity photographer began as a small child in his family’s home in New Jersey. John’s father was always taking pictures of the family as he was growing up. John tried to emulate his dad; he became the kid running around with the Kodak disc camera, photographing family and friends around the neighborhood.
As a teenager, John was always buying coffee-table books, and among them were books by Bruce Weber, Herb Ritts and Madonna’s Sex book. He was taken by the artistry of Weber and Ritts and the raw, shocking images in the Madonna book. During these teen years, he decided he would make his mark in photography.
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| Actress and supermodel, Caprice |
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Born in Philadelphia, John grew up in Ventnor, New Jersey. After attending St. Joseph University in Philadelphia for one year, he transferred to the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey in Pomona because of their photography program. There he learned the basics and the fine art aspects of photography, but not the actual business of photography. He did not know how to obtain work as a photographer; he did not know who his target clientele was, how to bill clients, how to prepare a mailing, who to send mailings to, and how to prepare his portfolio presentation.
After deciding against law school, John’s early thought was to be a fashion photographer, but he realized his calling was to join the ranks of Herb Ritts and Annie Leibovitz. He finds it exciting that these photographers are more famous than most of their subjects.
After a brief stint in Florida, John headed west. If you want to photograph celebrities, what better place to live than Los Angeles? John moved to Los Angeles in 1995 at the ripe old age of 25, ready to make his mark on the celebrity scene.
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| Sophia Loren, see caption 2 below |
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Commercial/advertising and the photography of celebrities are the only worlds of photography John has known. When he arrived in California, John found work as an assistant photo editor at a fine art publication. With all of the fervor of a 25-year-old, he decided to strike out on his own after only a few months to go after his own clients and get behind the camera where he believed he belonged. It’s not easy being a freelance photographer in Los Angeles, but John had perseverance. He researched publicist and began calling them to set up meetings.
He began photographing the “smaller” celebrities after some of these meetings. After proving himself to the publicists, they began sending him their “bigger” clients.
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| Pamela Anderson, see caption 3 below |
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In only nine years, John has made his mark photographing celebrities, musicians and beautiful people for magazine covers and advertisements. He loves what he does and enjoys every aspect of his business, but warns that it can be difficult. Because of the nature of the industry, it can take over your life. He has learned to keep his socializing with his clients to a minimum, and whenever possible, separate his business life from his personal life.
It hasn’t always been easy. In the beginning, John had to kiss a lot of tushies, wine and dine the publicists, buy them expensive lunches, and bite his tongue a lot. He quickly realized that it is who you know that gets you the work. You can have the best portfolio in the world, but if you don’t have an “in,” it won’t do you any good. Although he has reached the stage where he has “made it,” he still has to occasionally woo a publicist and continue the mailings and follow-up calls. The majority of his business today comes from repeat clients and referrals, which makes his life a little easier.
John continues to be inspired by his students at Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, California, where he teaches celebrity portraiture. He feels they give him the enthusiasm to continue to create amazing images.
To those who would like to follow in John’s footsteps, he advises that it is a difficult road, but anything is attainable. He stresses that presentation is the key in this industry; if you want to be a $5000-a-day photographer, your portfolio needs to reflect that. Because this genre is such a competitive field, professionalism is very important. Be sure there is consistency in your work and in all aspects of your business. A client hires a photographer for style and what that photographer can bring to the table. John explains that if the client has any doubts at all due to the work or the presentation, they take their work elsewhere. They will not take a chance and risk a bad outcome.
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| Sylvester Stallone, see caption 4 below |
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“Photography is an amazing career choice. Photographing celebrities takes a special type of person. It must be someone who has patience, a great personality and a dynamic sense of humor, someone is willing to conform to what the industry dictates. If you have all of these qualities and want to travel down that road, then pack your bags and get going.”
Be sure to look for John’s book, So You Want to Be a Celebrity Photographer, due out in early 2005. It details his experience in the industry from “A to Z.” John also has a line of cosmetics called “Hollywood Finish.” He has developed the first spray-on “matte finish.” He developed the product because so many actors and actresses develop shine on their faces during photo shoots. His product instantly turns their skin matte. Many top celebrity makeup artists have started using the product and are very pleased with the results. For more information, visit www.Hollywoodfinish.com/.
Equipment Choices
Cameras: Mamiya RZ, Contax 645 and Canon 1Ds for location work
Film: Fujifilm Astia 100 (220)
Digital: Phase One H25 back that attaches to the RZ
Lighting: Dynalites (He has 10 2000 W/S packs and 12 heads.) There is no one way to light a subject; the lighting depends on the project and the environment.
Secret Weapon: Pascal Andre, the best digital retoucher in the world—After the client makes the final selection, the images are given to Pascal for final retouching.
Harvey Goldstein from Branford, Connecticut, has been in the photographic industry for more than 30 years. He is a former studio owner and presently edits numerous association newsletters and magazines, as well as being a freelance writer.
Captions:
1. For one of his Japanese clients, John photographed Kevin Costner at a ranch in Los Angeles. It was an extremely hot day, and Costner was running behind in his schedule, so things were a bit tense. John was informed that the two-hour window for the shoot was shortened to 15 minutes. The worst part was that he had to get three different looks in those 15 minutes. He used his P22 (white reflector) and photographed everything using natural light in open shade. Equipment: Mamiya RZ, 90mm lens, exposed for 1/60 at f/4.0, Fujifilm Astia 100 speed.
2. John had the honor of photographing Sophia Loren for People magazine. It was to honor her 100th film, which her son, Eduardo Ponti, directed. The photography session took place at the Presidential Suite at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles. “I rarely get nervous before a shoot, but I was so excited about photographing Sophia Loren that my head was spinning. I studied Italian for one week prior to the shoot. When I was introduced to her, I completely forgot I could speak Italian. I think I told her I liked her shoes or something stupid like that. She was so gracious and made everyone in the crew feel at ease,” John says. It was a very cloudy day, and there was no light coming in the window. Because John wanted the image to look fresh and full of cascading light, he put a Dynalite head attached to a 2000 W/S pack outside the window and shot through the sheer white curtains, which acted as a softbox. Equipment: Mamiya RZ, 90mm lens, 1/60 at f/11, Fujifilm Astia 100 speed film.
3. John has photographed Pamela Anderson several times, so he knows how she wants to be lit. He says she has the amazing ability to just turn it on when the camera starts clicking. This photograph was shot for Italian MAX magazine, and they wanted “sexy, sexy, sexy.” John worked on this assignment with George Blodwell, who knew exactly what clothing and accessories would make for an outstanding shoot. Equipment: Mamiya RZ67, 150mm lens, three Dynalites, one with an Elinchrom Octabank and two Wafer softboxes. John also used a 20x20 piece of parachute material. He shot the softboxes through the parachute material to achieve the softest possible light. To keep Anderson’s skin golden, John added a slight warming gel over the two additional fill lights.
4. John photographed Sylvester Stallone at his home in Beverly Hills, CA, for a Japanese client. Where John was born, in Philadelphia, “Rocky” was considered by some people more important than many world leaders. John suggests that perhaps it was the Italian/Philadelphia connection that made the session go so smoothly. Stallone was pressed for time, and John was only allowed 20 minutes to complete the shoot, including set-up time. John’s amazing crew set up in five minutes. The session took place in his study using one softbox, powered down with a slow shutter speed to incorporate the natural light coming in through the window. Using the slower shutter speed allowed John to capture the smoke from the cigar. Equipment: Contax 645, 150mm lens, 1/15 at f/8, Kodak Tmax 100 speed film
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