MR: Aside from being a celebrity photographer, you also shoot abstract photography. How did this interest come about? JR: I just do it for me. It’s super fun. I love it. It’s just another creative outlet. Having gone to art school, I was always working on so many kinds of projects— sculpture, painting... I was versed in a lot of different art forms. I don’t know how well versed I was, but I was versed.
The book is scheduled to launch January 2018. There’s a chance it might launch in time for Christmas but I think it will be January. I’m also working on another book called On Love.
WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW IS LOVE...
MR: Where is your favorite place to shoot? JR: Capri—the Amalfi Coast. I did a fashion shoot there last summer and it was amazing—the colorful scenery, culture, weather, texture, and light. It’s spectacular. I’m currently working on a project with David Gandy for Dolce & Gabbana. We may be shooting in Capri—I will know the location soon. Dolce & Gababna is one of my favorite designers and clients. I love Steffano. He is amazing. I don’t know if you follow him on Instagram but he is outrageous. His exercising and cats—he is a special person. MR: Your father, Dan Russo, was also a photographer. Did you learn a lot from him? JR: Yes, he is an amateur photographer and artist. He’s 83 and still painting. Right now, he is working on a painting for one of my friends. He’s doing more modern art. His painting was on the cover of Angeleno Magazine. We’re super close. I was totally inspired by him. He was always taking photos of my brothers and me.
On Love features a mix of couples that are in love but it’s all different kinds of love—someone and their dog, someone and their mom, their dad, their brother, their best friend. What the world needs now is love, and I just have all these concepts that I want to do with it. It’s a feel good book. When you’re in love you want to shout it from the rooftops. You want to show it. It’s such a great thing capturing that moment. I will have people writing forwards in the book regarding what the word “love” means to them. I will tie it in with a charity but I haven’t decided which one yet. MR: If you weren’t a photographer, what would you be doing? JR: I really enjoy my job but as we all know, this industry is stressful. You’re dealing with attitudes and personalities. You can’t sweat the small stuff and you can’t take things personally. You simply keep moving forward. I have a really amazing team that I work with and everyone has their own thing that they contribute. If my job ever becomes too stressful, I’ll do something else. I’ll be a tennis pro probably! I play tennis so much.
MR: Tell me about your cosmetics line. JR: It’s all self-promotion really. I just created it so I could give away gift bags at photo shoots. I created both scents—the male and female. I got to choose all of the nail polish and lip colors. I tried them out on photo shoots and I gave them to my makeup artist friends. People were like, “Where do we get these products?” So I got a sales rep and now they carry it at the Four Seasons and Montage Hotels—a lot of different places! MR: When did you begin your project and book, 100 Making a Difference? JR: It began five years ago. It’s been a very long process. I only want to feature certain people. It’s my book and I want the people in it to really have a passion for philanthropy. We just photographed Salma Hayek a few days ago. We shot Kristen Bell and her husband, Dax Shepard. Those are just recent people. We’ve featured Malala Yousafzai, Maria Shriver, Scarlett Johansen, Goldie Hahn, and so many others. A lot of these people I have worked with for years and I am very excited to highlight their amazing contributions.
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MR: Why do people care about celebrities? Did you care about them growing up? What is the fascination? JR: I think the media feeds the whole celebrity culture because the celebrities have now become the models in magazines. They are selling products and everyone looks to them for what car to drive, how their body should look, and what fragrance to wear. Some celebrities are icons, so we look up to them like Sophia Loren or a fashion icon like Sarah Jessica Parker. Of course I was fascinated with them growing up in a small town in New Jersey since it was the furthest thing away from me. If you’re asking me if I’m fascinated with them now, I work with them. Some are amazing but at the end of the day, they’re just people. MR: What inspires you? JR: Other photographers like Marco Grobb and Vincent Peters inspire me. There are so many incredible photographers who do what I do—looking at their work inspires me to continue creating and keep raising my own standards.