René Russo

Written by Alessandro Gambaro on Friday, 12 June 2009 16:43

     A fortuitous encounter with an astonishing lady was the career turning point for German-Italian photographer René Russo. After a quick look at his photographs the lady, an art buyer in a big advertising agency in Hamburg, convinced him to become a professional photographer. Inspired, René moved back to Italy where he started his new career working as the assistant for a top advertising photographer in Milan. After this invaluable experience he opened his own studio and now enjoys a successful career. His impressive list of clients include: Missoni, Escada, Sergio Tacchini Perfume, IBM, Fiat, Volvo; he has also shot editorials for Glamour, Madame, Stern and Max. I recently had the pleasure of talking with René to learn more about his photography, here are the highlights.

ALESSANDRO GAMBARO: Where do you currently live?

RENÉ RUSSO: I just moved 1 1/2 years ago to Los Angeles from Italy and before that in Germany.

AG: Where would you build your dream house?

RR: Somewhere in the south hemisphere in a protective, isolated place with a mild climate. You never know...

AG: Did you go to school to study photography?

RR: No, I don't believe in photography schools. You just throw money out of the window and get blind.
In today’s time, you have to know how to photoshop very well and you need new fresh ideas. Many starters are just doing that but it's not enough. You have to get experience by working in the field as an assistant and work, work, work. Look at how your mentor handles the business part of photography. It's NOT enough just knowing how to make beautiful pictures.

AG: What or who got you started in photography?

RR: The love for women (I am Italian) and because of a wonderful lady who was an art buyer in a big advertising agency in Hamburg who took the time to talk to me for 2 hours after looking at my first photographs. She encouraged me to become a photographer. Incredibly, today as a professional, my interviews normally last not more than 15 minutes.

AG: How would you describe your style?

RR: Sophisticated, In my personal work, reading ‘behind’ what you see.

AG: What sort of work do you specialize in?

RR: Advertising, Fashion and Kids fashion.

AG: Where would be your dream destination assignment?

RR: In Bali and in Patagonia.

AG: What is the true essence of your inspiration?

RR: It's all about the soul and the universe. See behind what you see with your eyes.

AG: Is there anyone who would you like to photograph?

RR: No one famous, people who have done or achieved something very particular and special in life, someone out of the box.

AG: If not a photographer, what would you have been?

RR: My dream was to become a concert pianist and composer; secondly an architect; and last but not least an astrophysicist. In fact, my very first photographs I took as teenager were of the moon craters. Funny how it twisted.

AG: What has been your most memorable assignment and why?

RR: Travelling for jobs on location are always an adventure. [There is] lots of variety, and the unexpected is very often waiting around the corner. Being calm, flexibility and speed are the trick. Adding to that you have to handle the moods of 20 or more in the crew! I remember having fashion photo shoots in Cuba before it became a tourist and photography location hot spot. The locals were not really used to that at that time. In fact, I ended up in a third world like jail together with my little crew somewhere in the Cuban countryside. They accused me of erotic photography - but I was just photographing a girl in a swimsuit on the streets instead of on the beach. In jail, the story got worse and ugly, but I don't want to go into details here. The beautiful model was Cuban, but she was also a prostitute. She helped us get out after a day.

     Another time, there was a big photo and video shoot in Morocco, deep in the Saharan desert. At a certain point we had to escape quickly from a food market location in a village because the men were offended by the view of our female model. We had about a hundred people coming after us! A similar but smaller situation happened in Cape Town, South Africa years ago in the Muslim quarter, I love adventure!

     A few months ago, another situation [happened] again in Cape Town, this time for a swimsuit campaign. The idea was an empty Caribbean looking beach. The location scouting was done the month before. After many changes in timing and other reasons, when we finally got there, we found ourselves on a small, high tide, 18 feet deep beach crowded with hundreds of people because it was the last weekend of the holidays!

    Then there was a winter freezing photo shoot for sport technical clothes in the very northern part of Sweden around 65° Nord and I needed to photograph the model with hundreds of deer running behind him. Try to tell the deer “ok, let’s do it again please…and action“. It was crazy. After that, we had to photograph the model in between a pack of eight wolves. The client and the unarmed national park guardian were far away behind a fence while the model and I were alone with 8 wolves somewhere in a little forest. Surprisingly, the wolves were more scared of us. Then the client had the great idea to position me in the center of a little airport runway, in windy 8°F weather, while having me take photographs right in front of an airplane landing and taking off. There was also the day where I gave up while shooting from the top of a mast of a big sailboat in strong sea.

AG: That's fascinating! Forget about National Geographic, It can get downright dangerous in fashion photography. Name the first photographer that comes to your mind and why?

RR: Avedon. He photographed without looking through the lens but looking at the person and without much talking. The results are very intense. I think that kind of photography wasn’t about seeing but about a state of hypnosis.

AG: Any new projects on the horizon that you are excited about?

RR: A book project. Faces who are looking like animals.

Thank you René. For more of René Russo's work visit www.renerussophotography.com

Images Courtesy of René Russo

-by Alessandro Gambaro

Rene Russo