Surfing Photographer Jim Russi

Surfing Photographer Jim Russi describes a classic surf photo as ‘peak of action, height of emotion, and rich warm light with vibrant colors’. His images possess a spontaneous energy.

Jim grew up on the beach in southern California and began surfing at the age of 6 years old. He attended Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara to hone his craft for 4 years. The day Jim graduated he left for Hawaii’s northshore and a week long surf vacation, where he met up with two other young surf photographers, Aaron Chang and Jeff Hornbaker. Surf photography in the 70’s was an up and coming field with less than a dozen photographers in the water, and he had the good fortune to be in the line-up beside these greats.



He has traveled the world serving as Senior Staff Photographer for all the major U.S. surf magazines and has been a great influence in womens surfing. Jim has collaborated on numerous advertising campaigns and continues to work primarily on Quiksilver’s Roxy ad campaign, producing images for them for over a decade now. His images convey a balance between the raw power of the ocean and both femininity and athleticism. Follow this link to hear Jim Russi talk about some of his favorite images.