Seven years ago, John Russo arrived in Los Angeles an unemployed stranger living in a hotel room.
Last Thursday, he attended a black-tie Thanksgiving dinner at the Beverly Hills home of the president of South Korea.
The South Philly guy has come a long way, and not just geographically.
Russo, 33, is one of Hollywood’s busiest celebrity photographers. His portfolio includes glamour shots and magazine covers of some of Los Angeles’ most popular glitterati, including actors, musicians, models and even the children of foreign dignitaries — which is how he landed the Thanksgiving invite.
"A lot of the people out here have been doing this their whole life," Russo says in a phone interview, "and they still haven’t [photographed] the caliber of people that I have got."
That fashion spread in the magazine on the coffee table, those men’s magazines with the cleavage-thrusting actresses on their covers at the newsstands, the cover of that CD in the stereo … any could be Russo’s work.
The celebrity shutterbug grew up on the 2600 block of Darien Street and, later, the 2800 block of Marvine. Much of his extended family still resides within a 5-block radius of those homes. He attended George C. Thomas Middle School and South Philadelphia High before his family moved to the Jersey Shore, where Russo graduated from Atlantic City High in 1987.
He returned to Philly to enroll at St. Joseph’s University, intending to study business. After two years and hundreds of pictures snapped with his old Kodak disc camera, he changed course.
"I decided I don’t want to sit in an office behind a desk," Russo says. "I don’t want to work for somebody, I need to work for myself, I need to do something creative."
Next stop: Richard Stockton College in New Jersey to study photography. He graduated in 1994, and a year later boarded a plane headed for Los Angeles. His mission, he says, was to become a famous photographer. Russo booked a room in the Ramada in West Hollywood and planned to stay there until he found a job and an apartment.
"I told my parents [Marie and Daniel] that I was not coming back until I was the biggest success story ever," he recalls.
Things happened much more quickly than Russo had expected, although he did not return home for two years.
The day after he arrived on the West Coast, he noticed movers setting up an office across the street from his hotel. Turns out they were arranging the workspace for a new fine-arts magazine called Provocateur.
For Russo, it was one of those right-place, right-time situations. He grabbed his r�sum�, was interviewed on the spot and then hired as assistant photo editor.
The next day, he found an apartment. "It was the craziest thing," he says.
But seven months later, Russo had grown bored of editing other people’s pictures. He wanted to take his own, so he quit.
He figured if he was going to be successful on his own, he had to get cozy with the real powerbrokers in L.A. — the publicity firms.
The photographer went door to door, pleading with the firms to let him shoot their smaller clients. He wining and dined agents, and even offered his services for free on occasion.
"You need a big celebrity to get your foot in the door," Russo says, "but you can’t get in the door unless you have a big celebrity. It’s a catch-22."
His persistence paid off. Since his 27th birthday, he says, he has consistently been booked to do photo shoots five days a week.
Russo’s impressive celebrity portfolio includes Brad Pitt, Pamela Anderson, Cuba Gooding Jr., Kim Delaney, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Master P, Josh Hartnett and Heath Ledger.
His photos have appeared in and on hundreds of magazines around the world, including Maxim and similar men’s periodicals Ramp, Stun and Controversy, for which he will photograph rapper Snoop Dogg next month. He also shot pictures of Sylvester Stallone for a recent issue of Philadelphia Style magazine.
"Ninety-nine-point-nine percent of the time, the celebrities are great," Russo says. Among the most fun to work with is Anderson; he’s photographed the bought-buxom blonde five times. "She is completely out of control."
Russo even warmed up to reputed Hollywood grouch Shannen Doherty the second time he worked with her. "Shannen is the coolest girl ever," he claims. "You have to get to know her."
Russo is no longer just a visitor to the stratospheric world of the celebrities he photographs. He has become a full-time resident enjoying the spoils of his hard work.
His Beverly Hills home sits a few blocks from the tony Rodeo Drive shopping district and once belonged to former Melrose Place star Kelly Rutherford. And it’s eight blocks from the residence of another notable South Philly native, Russo’s cousin Al Martino.
And soon, builders should complete construction of Russo’s $1.5-million weekend home in an exclusive Palm Springs neighborhood. Next, he hopes to buy a home in one of New York’s haughty Hamptons.
Not bad for a guy who used to serve coffee at Stella Maris Church on bingo nights.
In Los Angeles, Russo explains, life is about "keeping up with the Joneses" — and the Joneses in his neighborhood drive Ferraris and Bentleys. Russo holds his own with a Range Rover and a BMW 7-series.
"If I am going to command the prices that I command, they expect to see me in a major car," he reasons. "They expect to know that I live in a major neighborhood and have an incredible house. It is all about perception. If I roll up in a beat-up Duster or something like that, they are not going to trust me. They are going to think, This is the photographer that gets $10,000 a day to shoot?"
Despite the glitz and the peripheral celebrity status he has amassed, Russo insists he remains grounded. He says he’s still influenced by the values instilled by his parents, like the importance of education and giving back to the community.
"Although it is great to have a great car and live in a great house, it doesn’t matter unless you are sharing your knowledge to make the world better," he says.
Russo breaks from his work for two months every summer. He has used the time to travel to Europe and vacation in Nantucket. This summer, he plans to take courses toward earning his master’s degree in photography at Yale University.
He envisions himself one day retiring from photography and teaching at the college level.
"I don’t want to be running around with a camera when I am 50 years old."
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Many of John Russo’s celebrity photos can be seen at www.johnrussophoto.com.
