Herb Ritts

Herbert Ritts Jr. (August 13, 1952 – December 26, 2002) was an American fashion photographer and music video director known for his photographs of celebrities, models, and other cultural figures throughout the 1980s and 1990s. His work concentrated on black and white photography and portraits, often in the style of classical Greek sculpture, which emphasized the human shape. Together, their furniture business helped to popularize rattan furniture in the 1950s and 1960s. Raised in an affluent Jewish family, he and his three younger siblings lived next door to actor Steve McQueen, whom he considered to be "like a second father".

At his bar mitzvah, his father gave him a Kodak Brownie camera. Upon graduation in 1975, he moved back to California to work as a sales representative in the family business. "I’m glad I didn’t go to school for photography. Other photographers I know, Helmut Newton and Bruce Weber didn’t either. Even Steven Meisel didn’t, really—he went to fashion school. For me, the most important thing I learned was just honing my eye. [...] I was tutoring myself, I suppose. Many people who excel are self-taught".

Career Later, while living in Los Angeles, he became interested in photography when he and friend Richard Gere, then an aspiring actor, decided to shoot some photographs in front of an old Buick. Some of his subjects during this time included musical artists. He also took fashion and nude photographs of models Naomi Campbell, Stephanie Seymour, Tatjana Patitz, Christy Turlington, and Cindy Crawford, including "Tatjana, Veiled Head, Tight View, Joshua Tree, 1988." Ritts' work with them ushered in the 1990s era of the supermodel and was consecrated by one of his most celebrated images, "Stephanie, Cindy, Christy, Tatjana, Naomi, Hollywood, 1989" taken for Rolling Stone.

He also worked for Interview, Esquire, Mademoiselle, Glamour, GQ, Newsweek, Harper's Bazaar, Rolling Stone, and in 2003 a solo exhibition was held at the Daimaru Museum, in Kyoto, Japan.

Personal life Ritts was openly gay. He was in a relationship with entertainment lawyer Erik Hyman from 1996 until his death in 2002. His parents were accepting and supportive of his sexuality. Ritts was HIV-positive. He was diagnosed in 1989, and used alternative herbal treatments to fight his condition. He never publicly disclosed his diagnosis.

Death On December 26, 2002, Ritts died in Los Angeles from pneumonia at the age of 50. According to Ritts' publicist, "Herb was HIV-positive, but this particular pneumonia was not PCP (pneumocystis pneumonia), a common opportunistic infection of AIDS. But at the end of the day, his immune system was compromised."

Music videos

Publications Pictures, Twin Palms, 1988 Men/Women, Twin Palms, 1989 Duo, Twin Palms, 1991 Notorious, Little, Brown and Company/Bulfinch, 1992 Africa, Little, Brown and Company/Bulfinch, 1994 Work, Little, Brown and Company/Bulfinch, 1996 Herb Ritts, Fondation Cartier pour l'Art Contemporain, 1999 Herb Ritts L.A. Style, Getty, 2012

Exhibitions Herb Ritts: The Rock Portraits, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, 2016. Herb Ritts: The Rock Portraits, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland, OH, 2015/16 Herb Ritts, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, 2015 Herb Ritts: Super, Hamilton's Gallery, London, 2016/17 Herb Ritts: Super II, Hamilton's Gallery, London, 2017