Over the years, award winning Director of Photography Russell Swanson has amassed hundreds of commercial and music video credits for national advertisers. Now Russell works in the world of narrative television. He recently completed lensing season 1 of The lliza Schlesinger Sketch Show for Netflix and has entered his 7th season shooting field production for HBO’s Emmy winning Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. His previous episodic work includes seasons 1 &2 of Wyatt Cenac’s Problem Areas for HBO and the Emmy winning Netflix children’s series The Who Was Show.
Russell has had a consistent love of photography that began in 7th grade, when he learned to develop black and white film in the middle school darkroom. Since then, he is rarely seen without a camera in his hand. He went on to earn a BFA in Theatre Arts and Photography which inspired him to start working as a camera assistant in New York and LA. Russell continued to hone his skills, working with top cinematographers and Directors/Cameramen before becoming a Director of Photography.
Currently based in New York, he continues to work bi-coastally and has shot on six continents.