RJ Shaughnessy (b. Hollywood, Florida, 1979) is an American photographer, artist, film director, publisher and writer.

Early life and education

Shaughnessy's grandfather Chuck Ax taught in the design department at the

Art Center College of Design The ArtCenter College of Design is a private art college in Pasadena, California. It was incorporated in 1930 as a degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of both the visual arts and design. ...

in Pasadena in the 1950s. Growing up around Ax in Florida, RJ began to develop his discerning eye. Ax would later be the reason RJ attended Art Center. When he was 18, Shaughnessy was out taking photos during a storm and was suddenly struck by lightning. While recovering in the hospital he immersed himself in photography books, which ultimately made it clear that would be his life's work. While at Art Center, RJ studied with photographer Paul Jasmin, and his mentorship had a profound effect on RJ's point of view. Shaughnessy’s first book, Deathcamp was shot while he was attending Art Center and is considered “a testament to a beautiful, if often bizarre, sense of humanity and community.” This authentic realism is what Shaughnessy is known best for today. Shaughnessy graduated from

with a

Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students pursuing a professional education in the visual arts, Fine art, or performing arts. In some instances, it is also called a Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA). Background ...

Work

Advertising

Shaughnessy's work first garnered public attention in 2008 when he shot the

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized in all lowercase since 1949) is a German athletic apparel and footwear corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the ...

Originals House Party campaign. Since then, Shaughnessy has shot global campaigns for

Uber Uber Technologies, Inc. is an American multinational transportation company that provides Ridesharing company, ride-hailing services, courier services, food delivery, and freight transport. It is headquartered in San Francisco, California, a ...

, American Eagle, Nike Women,

Vodafone Vodafone Group Public Limited Company () is a British Multinational company, multinational telecommunications company. Its registered office and global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It predominantly operates Service (economic ...

, Bacardi,

Virgin Virginity is a social construct that denotes the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. As it is not an objective term with an operational definition, social definitions of what constitutes virginity, or the lack thereof ...

, Google, Capri Sun,

Renault Renault S.A., commonly referred to as Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English), is a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company curr ...

, Stüssy,

with

David Beckham Sir David Robert Joseph Beckham ( ; born 2 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer, the president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City. Primarily a right winger and known for his range of passing, cross ...

Apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

, Ray Ban,

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

PlayStation is a video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of home video game consoles produced under the brand; it also consists ...

, Target,

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

Levi's Levi Strauss & Co. ( ) is an American clothing company known worldwide for its Levi's ( ) brand of denim jeans. It was founded in May 1853 when German-Jewish immigrant Levi Strauss moved from Buttenheim, Bavaria, to San Francisco, California, ...

, Nike and

Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western (genre), Western TV series ''Rawhide (TV series), Rawhide'', Eastwood rose to international fame with his role as the "Ma ...

for

Chrysler FCA US, LLC, Trade name, doing business as Stellantis North America and known historically as Chrysler ( ), is one of the "Big Three (automobile manufacturers), Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn H ...

with Wieden + Kennedy. He has also shot for Magazines such as Dazed & Confused,

The Fader ''The Fader'' is a magazine established in 1999 as an outlet for Cornerstone Agency, a marketing and public relations firm established by Rob Stone and Jon Cohen. The magazine covers music, style and culture. History and work It is owned by T ...

, Spin,

Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, Habit (psychology), habit or item generally considered morally wrong in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or a bad or unhe ...

& Self Service, as well as musicians such as

One Direction One Direction, often shortened to 1D, were an English-Irish pop boy band formed in London in 2010. The group consisted of Niall Horan, Zayn Malik (until his departure in 2015), Liam Payne, Harry Styles, and Louis Tomlinson. The group sold o ...

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. He is often regarded as one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generation, as well as one of the greatest rappers of all ...

and

Odd Future Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, better known as Odd Future and often abbreviated as OF or OFWGKTA, was an American alternative hip-hop Musical collective, music collective formed in Los Angeles, California in 2007. The group consisted of rap ...

. Shaughnessy's most recent book, Stay Cool is a quintessential story of summertime and youth in Los Angeles. As the foreword of the book states, "This is the story of youth, where it comes from, why it's here and how quickly it escapes us if we aren't paying attention".

Personal life

Shaughnessy has lived and worked in Los Angeles since 2000. In 2009, he signed with Los Angeles agency, Giant Artists Giant Artists Los Angeles http://www.giantartists.com/

Books

*Deathcamp *Your Golden Opportunity is Comeing Very Soon *These Photographs Will Heal Your Soul *Stay Cool

Exhibitions

*Manifest Equality, Los Angeles, CA (group show, 2010)List of participants
Manifest Equality. *Fotofest, Houston, TX (group show, 2010) *Lead Apron, Los Angeles, CA (solo show, 2010) *MOPLA Pro'jekt Series L.A., Los Angeles, CA (group show, 2010) *Giant Artists NOW, Los Angeles, CA (group show, 2010) *MOPLA and Edgar Varela Fine Arts L.A.t.e Los Angeles After Dark, Los Angeles, CA (group show 2011) *MOPLA Play It As It Lays, Los Angeles, CA (group show, 2012) *Galerie Fur Moderne Fotographie; This Land Was Made For You And Me, Berlin, Germany (group show 2012) *PDN Photo Annual, (group show, 2012) *Milk and Honey, Los Angeles, CA (group show, 2015)
Milk and Honey.

References

External links

Shaughnessy's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shaughnessy, RJ Year of birth missing (living people) Living people People from Hollywood, Florida American photographers