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"Ryan Russell grew up in the Deep South. We're not talking about the vacation havens of Florida or the Atlanta you saw in a rap video, we're talking about Birmingham, Alabama the gritty south that has long been known for steel mills, attack dogs, fire hoses and little else. Growing up in the infamous Magic City left a lot to the imagination, hanging around downtown soaking up the turn of the century architecture and decades of urban blight developed his talent of bringing energy and color out of ordinary scenes. With his style Russell embraces predecessors of southern culture William Eggleston and Ernest Withers as well as personal influences like Glen Friedman and Charles Peterson to create a new, bold take on classic southern gothic photography. Ryan captures the grit and energy of today's American music scene like Lee Friedlander's Atlantic Records work during the 50s and 60s or Anton Corbijn's work with U2 and Joy Division.

Although you wouldn't guess it from meeting the southern gentleman, Ryan has photographed some of the most critical artists of our time. From shooting the likes of Death Cab for Cutie, Paramore, My Chemical Romance, Josh Homme/Queens of the Stone Age, Underoath, the Melvins, Sonic Youth, Patton Oswalt and David Cross to being printed in magazines like Alternative Press, Rolling Stone, Spin and Playboy or periodicals like New York Times, New York Post, Chicago Reader and the Chicago Sun Times, Ryan has become a relevant artist. He has toured with the likes of Death Cab for Cutie, Paramore, Taking Back Sunday, Against Me!, and Mastodon." -John Ciba/CHOKE