Who is Bill Russ?

At the age of twelve Bill Russ had his first photograph published in the local newspaper in his hometown of Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina.  At fifteen he won first place from The Student Academy of Science for his work with holograms, and the following year he won a scholarship to the Covenant College, to study with photographers from National Geographic Magazine.  At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Bill worked as a photographer for both the yearbook as well as the student newspaper.  In 1983 Bill took his portfolio overseas and found a position as a photographic assistant at L’Uomo Vogue Magazine in Milan, Italy.  For the last twenty years he has been employed by the North Carolina Division of Tourism to produce images to promote the state’s tourism industries.  He illustrates the North Carolina Travel Guide, the North Carolina Golf Guide and has provided editorial images to hundreds of publications all over the world.  Bill has served on the Board of Directors for the North Carolina Chapter of the American Society of Media Photographers and has been a general member since 1993.  The North Carolina Museum of Art asked Bill to serve on the exhibition committee to help promote and market the Ansel Adams exhibit in 2000.  His North Carolina Photo CD Press Kit won a Mercury Award for it’s public relations value, and in 2005 the North Carolina Travel Council selected Bill Russ to receive the Bill Sharp Award for his work in promoting Tourism in North Carolina.