Maria Russo is a photographer, writer and editor whose work has been featured by Architectural Digest, People Magazine, Forbes, National Geographic, BBC America, The Huffington Post, AFAR, LensCulture, Sony Alpha, and VII Photo Agency among others. She is an ongoing contributor to National Geographic Your Shot and was a finalist in the Nature Conservancy Photo Contest 2023.
In 2014, Russo began documenting the lives of women farmers in Rwanda. Her photography examined how poverty and food insecurity are deeply tied to the climate and health crises. Russo spent the next seven years exploring women-led tree-based agriculture and permagardening climate resilience projects. She works in Consultative Status with the United Nations through her organization Humanity Unified Int’l. Russo continues to focus on these issues and why women are more vulnerable than men to the impacts of climate change.
During the early stages of her career, Russo worked in various areas of media and television at companies such as MTV Networks, People Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, Warner Bros. and WOR News Talk Radio.
