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Herbert "Herb" Ritts Jr. (August 13, 1952 – December 26, 2002) was an American fashion photographer who concentrated on black-and-white photography and portraits, often in the style of classical Greek sculpture.
Born in Los Angeles, to a Jewish family,[1] Ritts began his career working in the family furniture business. His father, Herb Ritts Sr., was a businessman, while his mother, Shirley Ritts, was an interior designer. He moved to the East Coast to attend Bard College in New York, where he majored in economics and art history. 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 jacked up Buick. The picture gained Ritts some coverage and he began to be more serious about photography. He photographed Brooke Shields for the cover of the Oct. 12, 1981 edition of Elle and he photographed Olivia Newton-John for her Physical album in 1981. Five years later, he would replicate that cover pose with Madonna for her 1986 release True Blue.
During the 1980s and 1990s, Ritts photographed celebrities.[2] He also took many fashion and nude photographs of fashion models Naomi Campbell, Stephanie Seymour, Tatjana Patitz, Christy Turlington, and Cindy Crawford. 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 Magazine.
He also worked for Interview, Esquire, Mademoiselle, Glamour, GQ, Newsweek, Harper's Bazaar, Rolling Stone,[2] Time, Vogue, Allure, Vanity Fair, Details, and Elle.
He published many books on photography for fashion designers including, Revlon, Ralph Lauren, Chanel, Gianni Versace, Calvin Klein, Elizabeth Arden, Donna Karan, Cartier, Guess, Maybelline, TAG Heuer, Lacoste, Gianfranco Ferré, Levi's, Victoria's Secret, Gap, Acura, CoverGirl, Lancôme, and Valentino.
From 1996 to 1997 his work was displayed at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, attracting more than 250,000 people to the exhibit,[3] and in 2003 a solo exhibition was held at the Daimaru Museum, in Kyoto, Japan.
The first video he directed was Madonna in "Cherish" in 1989. In 1991, he won two MTV Video Awards for his work on music videos by Janet Jackson and Chris Isaak. Ritts also directed the music video for Michael Jackson's "In the Closet", which featured supermodel Naomi Campbell. Ritts also worked on other projects, including directing and acting, on Mariah Carey's video collection #1's (1999), Jennifer Lopez's sepia video "Ain't It Funny", Janet Jackson's Design of a Decade 1986/1996 (1996), Intimate Portrait: Cindy Crawford (1998), Murder in the First (1995), Britney Spears' "Don't Let Me Be The Last To Know (2001) and Shakira's Underneath Your Clothes.
On December 26, 2002, Ritts died of complications from pneumonia at the age of 50.[4] 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." [5]
Cosmetics, MacAndrews & Forbes, Estée Lauder Companies, New York City, Skin care
Virgin Records, Industrial music, Mtv, Britney Spears, Michael Jackson
United States, Brazil, Australia, Netherlands, Serbia
The Jackson 5, Janet Jackson, Jermaine Jackson, Elvis Presley, The Beatles
Whitney Houston, Christina Aguilera, Boyz II Men, World Music Awards, Virgin Records
United States, Steven Meisel, United Kingdom, Canada, Mario Testino
William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Madonna (entertainer), Pop music, Malibu, California
Gisele Bündchen, Steven Meisel, Patrick Demarchelier, Mario Testino, Kate Moss
Heidi Klum, Tyra Banks, Daniela Peštová, Ana Beatriz Barros, Marisa Miller
Shakira, Eminem, Billboard (magazine), The Bangles, Laundry Service