Russell James was a boy from Wilson who has become the world’s leading fashion photographer.
The concept of what is an appropriate career, or how many careers someone can have in a lifetime, is a lot more fluid that in years past.
It is now widely accepted that a typical worker will change careers numerous times throughout their life, raising questions about the decision-making processes that create such dynamic career paths.
For instance, how does a bloke from Perth’s southern suburbs transition from sheet metal tradesman to tactical response group officer in the Western Australian Police to internationally renowned fashion photographer based in New York?
The answer, according to Russell James, stems from a combination of life-changing events, international travel, diverse business experience and, most importantly, very understanding and supportive parents.
“I like to think there’s a plan but most of it was by necessity,” Mr James says.
Presently Mr James is the lead photographer for lingerie label Victoria’s Secret, which involves working with supermodels Miranda Kerr, Gisele Bündchen and Heidi Klum.
“I have rarely, if any, had the prima donna experience.”
“We’re so lucky with our background in Australia … you walk over to the person you’re going to be working with and say ‘G’day, I’m looking forward to shooting you and I love that damned dress’ and most people find that disarming.”
Despite his photographic work often featuring in international publications such as Vanity Fair, Vogue, GQ and Sports Illustrated he still worries about job security going forward.
“Everyday I wake up in a panic about not working again.”
Perth Fashion Festival named Mr James as the festival’s international ambassador this year following the recent announcement that Perth will become the official home for his revered ‘Nomad Two Worlds’ exhibit, once it features at the World Peace Summit in Berlin next August.
‘Nomad Two Worlds’ is a 10-year collaboration with indigenous and non-indigenous artists including Clifton Beiundurry highlighting reconciliation, stemming from experiences with his family in Derby where he saw first hand the conflict between the Aboriginal population and the rest of Australia.
So strong is his commitment to reconciliation that his ‘Aboriginal mother’ Olive Knight gave him his ‘skin name’ (or Aboriginal name) of Jungala James while travelling in the Kimberley, meaning he is now Ms Knight’s son and Mr Beiundurry’s brother.
Born in Wilson, Mr James left school at age 14 (advised by his then principal “not to darken the school’s doorstep any longer”) and following his parent’s advice, he secured an assembly line job making rubbish bins in Bayswater.
“There is a saying that the harder you work the luckier you get – I actually believe in that very much,” he says.
“I had an obsession to do something and I didn’t know what so I went from rubbish bins to getting an apprenticeship in a Welshpool factory where I got a trade certificate.
“And while some of my greatest mates were made there, I had a vision of being in the factory when I retired and it frightened me.”
The rebellious teenage son of chief superintendent of internal investigations, Iva Thomter – Mr James elected to use his middle name as his surname when international booking agents continually misspelled ‘Thomter’ – at age 19 Mr James unintentionally followed in his father’s footsteps, joining the boys in blue with misdirected ambitions.
“I actually joined the police force with the ambition of getting into the dog squad,” he says.
“But I forgot to ask the question if there was a dog squad before I got in and there wasn’t so it was a small oversight.”
Sieges, car chases and shoot-outs in an undercover unit called combined operations was followed by a stint in the counter terrorist intelligence unit, which involved protecting dignitaries, including the corporate elite who introduced him to stock trading.
However, the 1987 market crash and a $30,000 debt forced Mr James to explore male modeling in Japan, assisted by a loan from his parents who had put their house on the line to get him there.
Three months later he had paid back his parents, resigned from the police force and planned to take over a bankrupt modeling agency in Sweden where he later encountered “an epiphany in the darkroom” watching photos being developed that led him to become a photographer.
Since that time he has worked hard to build a career that has included visual creative work for the likes of Rolex, Gillette, Warner Music, Burberry and Ralph Lauren shaping and managing their massively valuable brands.
“The hardest thing in the world to get is a track record.
“And Australia is the place I’m branded the least, both on the professional photography side and in general.”
Do you have a favourite mantra you like to reflect on?
‘Shut up and shoot’. I came up with that having observed some (not so good) photographers yakking their heads off with their talent – talking right through some great photo opportunities. I have since applied the ‘shut up and shoot’ mantra more as a life mission statement and I say it to myself more often than anyone else.
What would you do if you were premier?
I would probably ask the entire political body to come to consensus about the top ten issues we need to tackle and then ask all concerned to put aside their partisan views to execute on the mission. Then I would obviously fail and be fired within about a week so I’d take the vacation through the Kimberly that I have been planning for twenty years and never gotten around to.
Do you have any mentors?
My parents Iva and Shirley are my first and foremost mentors. They stood by me through thick and thin and trust me I tested their resolve!
