Jacob Russell

Jacob Russell

Jacob Russell is a freelance photographer, writer and video journalist based in the Middle East. He trained as a press photographer in the UK and cut his teeth working for national publications. After moving to Iraqi Kurdistan he became picture editor and trainer at Metrography, Iraq's first photo agency, where he mentored Iraqi photographers and worked to raise the profile of Iraqi photojournalism on the international stage.

Jacob left Metrography to pursue freelance photography and covered the rise and eventual military defeat of the Islamic State in Iraq and the changing fortunes of Iraqi Kurdistan. He is now based in Lebanon from where he continues to cover the Middle East and further afield.

Jacob is also a regular collaborator with Raw Music International, making short films focusing on music in changing places. With RMI he has produced films from Iraq, Myanmar, Ukraine and Mongolia.

His work has been published in the Guardian, Le Monde, Der Spiegel, Neon Magazine, Neue Zurcher Zeitung, Die Zeit and CNN, amongst others. His video work has appeared on NBC.com and Time.com and he has also published written work in Der Spiegel, Al Jazeera English and Roads & Kingdoms.