"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it", Confucius famously observed over two thousand years ago.

Russell Hoover, celebrated international photographer carries Confucius' eye for beauty wherever he travels. His passion for surf photography has taken him from Peru, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Costa Rica to the Cook Islands , Tahiti,  Israel, Alaska and beyond.

After working 20 consecutive winters on Oahu's North Shore, Russell's passion and keen eye for conceptualizing images set him apart from other photographers. As Senior Staff Photographer for Surfer Magazine, he lived and breathed the magic of photography. His images graced the covers of over 100 publictions world-wide, including the cover of inaugural Surfer’s Journal Volume 1 Issue 1.

Not all photographers love their craft enough to stay in the industry, discovering other photographic avenues.  Russell's passion kept him clicking, and an intuitive gift lead him to portraiture, an art form requiring sixth sense to get a soul-baring photograph. On Tavarua Island in Fiji, where Russell combines portraiture with his love of natural elements, returning clients from Mexico, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand and USA ask for Russell by name the moment they arrive. "What I love about portraiture is, you can actually capture time. You look at a landscape and see the same image ten years later, but a portrait captures that moment in the life of its subject". When Russell isn't working overseas he's based from his studio in Seal Beach, California. 

With two college degrees behind him, Russell's publications and clients include Adidas, Aleeda, Billabong, DC, Globe, Gotcha, HIC, Hurley, O’Neil, Quicksilver, Paul Mitchel, Nike, Reebok, Reef, Rusty, Town and Country, Vans, Volcom, Xcel, Alternative Medicine, Australian Surfing Life, Bodyboarding, Flipper, Flow, Fluir, Longboard Magazine, Outside, Riptide, Sail, Sports Illustrated, Surf Sessions, Surfer, Surfin Life Japan, Surfing, Surfer’s Journal, Thrasher, Wahine, Waves, West Coast Windsurfing, Windsurf, and Volleyball Monthly.

Russell has a book coming out in 2017, stay tuned. Contact him to find availability for an amazing portrait session and follow him on Instagram and Facebook.