Michael Andreas Russ (born January 1945 in Berlin) is an American
photographer, photo designer and film director. In reference to his
artistic cooperation Swordfishtrombones album cover production, singer
Tom Waits commented on Russ' work: “His approach to photography is
with the eyes of a painter working with light. This technique is what
drew me to Michael’s work in the beginning†.Russ' career as a
photographer began in New York in the late 1960s where he photographed
his fellow acting students. Self-taught, evolving his own style: 'The
grainy picture appearing horizontally in subtle motion as though it
came of the silver screen'. A black and white photograph by Russ,
inspired by an Ingmar Bergman film was published on the cover of
“Art Direction, The Magazine of Visual Communication†with a
Gertrude Stein quotation: “The composition in which we live makes
the art which we see and hear†. He eventually moved to his own
studio off Union Square, Manhattan and connected with the local
underground art scene. In his early years Russ focused on men's
fashion magazines and erotic sequential photographic scenes for
Playboy Press books. He soon experimented with distinctive
photographic techniques, turning 35mm black and white film into
chemically toned, masked, solarized and hand colored, 'one of a kind'
silver gelatin prints. These 'TinTones' as Russ would call them were
to become the trademark of his work. They were published in popular
fashion and lifestyle magazines and brought him international
recognition among peers in the art world. Michael Russ “Prussian
Blue†TinTone photo exhibition at the Los Angeles China Club was the
basis for the artistic collaboration with Tom Waits who commissioned
Russ for the cover photograph for the album Swordfishtrombones.Russ
moved from Berlin, Germany to the US in 1958 after his father's death
to rejoin his mother. They resided in Denver, Colorado. While still in
high school he took ballet (Lillian Cushing School of Ballet) and
acting lessons and performed locally. On his 17th birthday he enlisted
in the US army and spent 2.1/2 years stationed in Bamberg, Germany.
After his discharge he moved to New York City in 1965 where he
attended Renate Mannhardt acting workshop and began taking pictures of
his fellow acting students. Encouraged by Wilhelmina Cooper of
Wilhelmina Models to pursue a career in fashion photography she sent
him models on Go-Sees for test shoots and thus helped him to make his
entry into fashion photography.In 1970 he moved into his own studio
off Union Square, right around the corner from Andy Warhol and The
Factory , frequenting Max's Kansas City, a favorite hang out for
Warhol and his friends as well as upcoming musical legends like David
Bowie, Janice Joplin, Jimi Hendrix or The Velvet Underground. By the
early seventies Russ' work had been published with major fashion and
lifestyle magazines like Mens Wear, Esquire, GQ, True Magazine and
contributed erotic fantasy images to three Playboy Press books: "Love
Games", "Sexy Ladies" and "Ecstasy".
photographer, photo designer and film director. In reference to his
artistic cooperation Swordfishtrombones album cover production, singer
Tom Waits commented on Russ' work: “His approach to photography is
with the eyes of a painter working with light. This technique is what
drew me to Michael’s work in the beginning†.Russ' career as a
photographer began in New York in the late 1960s where he photographed
his fellow acting students. Self-taught, evolving his own style: 'The
grainy picture appearing horizontally in subtle motion as though it
came of the silver screen'. A black and white photograph by Russ,
inspired by an Ingmar Bergman film was published on the cover of
“Art Direction, The Magazine of Visual Communication†with a
Gertrude Stein quotation: “The composition in which we live makes
the art which we see and hear†. He eventually moved to his own
studio off Union Square, Manhattan and connected with the local
underground art scene. In his early years Russ focused on men's
fashion magazines and erotic sequential photographic scenes for
Playboy Press books. He soon experimented with distinctive
photographic techniques, turning 35mm black and white film into
chemically toned, masked, solarized and hand colored, 'one of a kind'
silver gelatin prints. These 'TinTones' as Russ would call them were
to become the trademark of his work. They were published in popular
fashion and lifestyle magazines and brought him international
recognition among peers in the art world. Michael Russ “Prussian
Blue†TinTone photo exhibition at the Los Angeles China Club was the
basis for the artistic collaboration with Tom Waits who commissioned
Russ for the cover photograph for the album Swordfishtrombones.Russ
moved from Berlin, Germany to the US in 1958 after his father's death
to rejoin his mother. They resided in Denver, Colorado. While still in
high school he took ballet (Lillian Cushing School of Ballet) and
acting lessons and performed locally. On his 17th birthday he enlisted
in the US army and spent 2.1/2 years stationed in Bamberg, Germany.
After his discharge he moved to New York City in 1965 where he
attended Renate Mannhardt acting workshop and began taking pictures of
his fellow acting students. Encouraged by Wilhelmina Cooper of
Wilhelmina Models to pursue a career in fashion photography she sent
him models on Go-Sees for test shoots and thus helped him to make his
entry into fashion photography.In 1970 he moved into his own studio
off Union Square, right around the corner from Andy Warhol and The
Factory , frequenting Max's Kansas City, a favorite hang out for
Warhol and his friends as well as upcoming musical legends like David
Bowie, Janice Joplin, Jimi Hendrix or The Velvet Underground. By the
early seventies Russ' work had been published with major fashion and
lifestyle magazines like Mens Wear, Esquire, GQ, True Magazine and
contributed erotic fantasy images to three Playboy Press books: "Love
Games", "Sexy Ladies" and "Ecstasy".
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