About

I was born and grew up in Detroit, Michigan. The arts have been central to my life since childhood, beginning with the stories of the Brothers Grimm and other classic fairy and folk tales. When I was sixteen, I began writing, studying, and publishing poetry.

During and after my undergraduate years at the University of Michigan (where I was named the Alfred P. Sloan Scholar for the Humanities), I published poems in numerous magazines and anthologies, including The Nation, The Virginia Quarterly Review, New York Quarterly and Parabola. In the beginning of 2003, though, for partly-mysterious reasons, my poetry-writing metamorphosed into photography as my main artistic practice. My experiences with poetry became one of the major sources for the kind of photographs that I aimed to create

Since that beginning in my new art 20 years ago, my images have won multiple honors in global photography competitions such as the International Photography Awards, the International COLOR (Photography) Awards, and the Fine Art Photography Awards. Photographs of mine have also been selected for juried exhibitions administered by venues in every region of the U.S., including the Center for Photographic Art (CA), the Center for Fine Art Photography (CO), the New Britain Museum of American Art (CT), the Atlanta Photography Group Gallery (GA), and PhotoPlace Gallery (VT).

Creating images (in photography as I once did in poetry) is the deepest, most essential part of my work in art, and they are better without any attempted description or bogus “explanation.” But for anyone who wants to know more about my experiences, perceptions, opinions & beliefs, this site contains my Blog (“LAWRENCE RUSS Photography: Soul, Art, and Society”).

And in case you want to read more about my work in and for the arts beyond just photography, I’ve provided an “Intro for Viewers and Readers,” a page called “About My Literary Work,” and another called “About My Legal Work for the Arts.”

Honors

  • The London International Creative Competition, Official Selection in Shoot [Photo/Video])
    2024
  • International Photography Awards (New York, NY), 6 total honors in 5 categories
    2023, 2022, 2015
  • International COLOR (Photography) Awards (Beverly Hills, California), 14 total honors in 8 categories
    2023, 2022, 2021
  • Fine Art Photography Awards (London, ENG), 14 total honors in 8 categories
    2023, 2020, 2019, 2015
  • reFocus Color Photography Awards, Honorable Mention in Architecture
    2023
  • reFocus World Photo Annual Awards, Official Selection in Architecture
    2023
  • Analog Sparks International Film Photography Awards, Silver Prizes in Architecture/Other and Nature/Other
    2023
  • The Photo Review (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), Annual International Competition
    2019
  • A Smith Gallery (Johnson City, TX), Director's Honorable Mention
    2016
  • Shoreline Arts Alliance, “IMAGES” (Guilford, CT), Honorable Mention
    2013
  • Westport Arts Center (Westport, CT), "SOLOS 2011"
    2011
  • Merit Award, COLOR Magazine, Annual Single Images Contest
    2010
  • Housatonic Museum of Art (Bridgeport, CT), Annual Open Juried Exhibition, 1st Honorable Mention
    2005

Juried Exhibitions (selected)

  • Center for Photographic Art, Carmel, CA, “2020 Annual Juried Members Exhibition” and "2019 International Juried Exhibition"
    2020, 2019
  • Center for Fine Art Photography (Fort Collins, Colorado), 2 exhibitions
    2019, 2010
  • New Britain Museum of American Art (New Britain, CT), Annual Nor'easter Exhibition
    2015, 2010, 2009
  • A Smith Gallery (Johnson City, TX), 9 exhibitions
    2023
  • Atlanta Photography Group Gallery (Atlanta, GA), 8 exhibitions
    2024, 2023, 2021, 2020, 2019
  • Black Box Gallery (Portland, OR), 15 exhibitions
    2023, 2022, 2020, 2019, 2018, 20152017
  • Darkroom Gallery (Essex Junction, VT), 4 exhibitions
    2019, 2018, 2017, 2015
  • Fairfield Museum and History Center (Fairfield, CT), "IMAGES"
    2015, 2014
  • Mattatuck Museum of History and Culture (Waterbury, CT), Annual Mixmaster Exhibition
    2019
  • Praxis Gallery (Minneapolis, MN), 10 exhibitions
    2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019
  • PhotoPlace Gallery (Middlebury, VT), 8 exhibitions
    2023, 2021, 2019, 2017, 2015, 2013, 2012
  • Shoreline Arts Alliance (Guilford Arts Center, Guilford, CT), Annual “IMAGES” exhibition
    2014, 2013, 2012

Publications (selected)

  • F-Stop Magazine (Chicago, I) - 11 issues: “Color 2024,” “The Portrait 2022,” “Self Portrait,” “Alternative Portrait,” “Land, Sea, Air,” "Home", "Love," "OPEN," "Happy Accidents," "On the Road," "The Natural World,"
    2024, 2022, 2021, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2015, 2014
  • The Photo Review (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) - 2019 International Competition issue
    2019
  • Transportation Builder Magazine- Annual “Through the Lens” feature.
    2018, 2017
  • Connecticut Explored Magazine- Photos for article on WWI memorials in CT.
    2017
  • Shadow & Light Magazine - Single Image Showcase, Issue 4
    2015
  • Tricycle (American Buddhist Magazine) - Portrait of poet Dick Allen
    2014
  • This Shadowy Place, winner of the New Criterion Poetry Prize, by Dick Allen (St. Augustine's Press - Portrait of poet Dick Allen
    2014
  • Ploughshares - Portrait of poet Dick Allen
    2014
  • Connecticut Preservation News (CT Trust for Historic Preservation) - Portrait of State of CT preservation officer Susan Chandler
    2013
  • Hartford Courant - Portraits of CT Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and his new cabinet
    2011
  • COLOR Magazine - Annual Single Images Contest, Special Issue
    2010