About Ethan Russell

Author of three books and a multi-Grammy nominated photographer and director.
In 1967, Ethan Russell was a young American with a Nikon camera living in London and aspiring to become a writer. Just a few years later he was regarded as one of the foremost rock photographers in the world. After his work with The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, and The Who, which garnered his first grammy nomination for The Who’s “Quadrophenia”, Ethan went on to photograph artists such as Jerry Lee Lewis, Phil Everly, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, The Moody Blues, Cream, Santana, Traffic, Eric Clapton, Linda Ronstadt, John Hiatt, Rickie Lee Jones, Audioslave, and Rosanne Cash. Ethan’s lifetime involvement expanding the work of the singer-songwriter into visual mediums motivated his development of new kind of music-based film that was the inspiration for what later became “music video.” Ethan Russell directed his first short musical film with Leon Redbone in 1978, three years before the advent of MTV. He went on to produce and direct films with Rickie Lee Jones, Emmylou Harris, Joni Mitchell, Paul Simon, kd lang, Rosanne Cash, Hank Williams, Jr. and Randy Travis, among others. His video “There’s a Tear in My Beer” with Hank Williams Jr. garnered his second Grammy nomination. In the 1990’s, Ethan’s natural talent and technical savvy put him at the forefront of interactive media development, serving as a Creative Director to design desktop delivery of interactive video.

Ethan is also the author of three books, Dear Mr. Fantasy (Houghton Mifflin 1985) and LET IT BLEED; The Rolling Stones 1969 U.S. Tour (Collector’s Edition Rhino Entertainment, 2007. Trade Edition: Springboard Press 2009), and ETHAN RUSSELL: AN AMERICAN STORY (Charles Books. 2012). Most recently, he launched an ongoing blog for The Huffington Post: Music, Words, & Photography, and a live Speaker Series, which encapsulates a music photographer’s life, art, and personal experiences from his vantage point of “The Best Seat In The House”.