Russ Croop
Russ Croop
Colorado native Russ Croop was born in Colorado Springs, grew up in Denver, attended college in Greeley, and taught language arts and photography at Fairview High School in Boulder for over 30 years. He has been making photographs since he was 12 years old.
When asked about himself, Russ says, “I have a lot of interests. Most everything I do involves being creative.” From never ending home remodeling projects, gardening, and woodworking to making dioramas and scale model vehicles and structures, Russ lives a busy life.
He is a musician and who plays guitar and keyboards. For his midlife crisis, Russ formed a Rock and Roll cover band. For more than a decade, he and a lifelong friend have recorded nine albums under the name Seven Years A Citizen. Their instrumental music can be found on YouTube, Spotify and most other modern music venues.
Also an artist, Russ was a pioneer in digital art and had the world’s first gallery show of iPhone paintings, all printed on canvas and enlarged to 24” x 36”. His work appeared in the book Mobile Digital Art: Using the iPad and iPhone as Creative Tools. A few years ago, Russ broke his leg and during the healing process, created over 400 abstract paintings on his iPhone.
Russ makes videos for clients and for his own enjoyment. Many of them feature his iPhone art and original music. They can be seen on here on Vimeo.
After retiring from teaching, Russ started Russ Croop Photography.
His photographs have appeared in Boulder Magazine and others. He has photographed numerous professional gatherings including the Colorado State Internet Portal Authority (SIPA) annual conference, shot products for local companies, and for the last 12 years has been photographing real estate properties for use in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). He has traveled throughout the US and Europe and enjoys pretending he is Parisian street photographer Henri-Cartier Bresson, the man who coined the term “the decisive moment.”
Russ also takes photos for the City of Lafayette, Colorado. His passion for photography outshines all of his other interests and he is excited to share his enthusiasm and knowledge with others.
Elaine Chang
The class was great! Russ was very patient with 4 active boys. Looks like he really captured their attention. He also played scavenger hunt games with them and had them wander around in the front yard taking photos. 🙂 I think boys got the key points of the lesson and the class sparked their interests. Russ also shared with me at the end of the class about the photography he’s been doing for the city of Lafayette (where my parents are at).
Thank you for the class! I will talk to my son about what he has learned. If he has further interests, I surely would like to contact you again.