Russell was born and raised in the Deep South town of Birmingham, where he found an eye for photography at a young age. His style 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 bold new take on classic southern gothic photography. Russell captures the grit and energy of today’s American music scene much like Lee Friedlander’s work for Atlantic Records in the 50’s and 60’s or Anton Corbijn’s work with U2 and Joy Division in the 80’s. Today, Russell is a well sought after photographer who has worked with bands like Death Cab for Cutie, Paramore, Patton Oswalt, My Chemical Romance, Green Day and Blink-182 and his photographs have appeared in such periodicals as Rolling Stone, Spin, Esquire, Playboy and New York Times.