Herb Ritts: Difference between revisions

| image_size =

| birth_place = [[Los Angeles]], California]], U.S.

| alma_mater = [[Bard College]]

| known_for =

'''Herbert Ritts Jr.''' (August 13, 1952{{spaced ndash}}– December 26, 2002) was an American [[fashion photography|fashion photographer]] and 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 art|Greek sculpture]], which emphasized the human shape.<ref name=nyt/>

BornRitts was born on August 13, 1952, in [[Brentwood, Los Angeles]]. His father, toHerb Ritts Sr. (née Rittigstein), was a furniture designer and his mother, [[JewShirley Ritts]]ish family(née Roos), was an interior designer.<ref name=":0">Abrams, Melanie. [https://www.thejc.com/life-and-culture/all/lens-that-dened-a-generation-1.24087 "Life and Culture: Lens That Defined a Generation."] [[Thejc.com]] Retrieved May 23, 2022.</ref> RittsTogether, begantheir hisfurniture careerbusiness workinghelped into thepopularize family[[rattan]] furniture business.in Histhe father,[[1950s Herbin Rittsthe Sr.,United wasStates|1950s]] aand businessman,[[1960s whilein histhe mother,United [[Shirley RittsStates|1960s]],. wasRaised in an interioraffluent designer.[[Jews|Jewish]] Hefamily, movedhe toand thehis [[Eastthree Coastyounger ofsiblings thelived Unitednext States|East Coast]]door to attendactor [[BardSteve CollegeMcQueen]] in New York, wherewhom he majoredconsidered into economicsbe and"like arta history,second graduating in 1975father".<ref name=nyt":1">{{citeCite web |worklast=TheQuinton New|first=François York Times|title=Herb Ritts, PhotographerInterview of Celebrities, Is Dead at 50|author=Bellafante, Ginia|date=December 27, 2002|access-date=December 23, 2017|url=httpshttp://www.nytimesherbritts.com/2002wp-content/12uploads/272015/us03/herbHerbRitts_Interview_Francois-ritts-photographer-of-celebrities-is-dead-at-50Quintin.htmlpdf |access-date=March 11, 2024 |website=Herb Ritts Foundation}}</ref>

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.<ref name=nyt/> The picture gained Ritts some coverage and he began to be more serious about photography. He photographed [[Brooke Shields]] for the cover of the October 12, 1981 edition of ''[[Elle (magazine)|Elle]]'' and he photographed [[Olivia Newton-John]] for her ''[[Physical (Olivia Newton-John album)|Physical]]'' album in 1981. Five years later he replicated that cover pose with [[Madonna (entertainer)|Madonna]] for her 1986 release ''[[True Blue (Madonna album)|True Blue]]''. That same year he photographed [[Tina Turner]] for the album ''[[Break Every Rule]]''.

During the 1980s and 1990s, Ritts photographed celebrities in various locales throughout California.<ref name=RS87>{{citation | last=Loder | first=Kurt | title=Stardust Memories |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]| issue=498 | date=April 23, 1987 | pages=74–77,80,82,168,171}}</ref> 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|Tatjana, Veiled Head, Tight View, Joshua Tree, 1988]]."<ref>{{cite web|access-date=2022-09-03|title=Herb Ritts -|url=https://www.herbritts.com/}}</ref> 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.{{cn|date=September 2022}}

From 1996 to 1997 Ritts' work was displayed at the [[Boston Museum of Fine Arts]] in Boston, attracting more than 250,000 people to the exhibit,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/exhibitionist/2007/04/breaking_herb_r.html|title=Breaking: Herb Ritts Money, Art to MFA50|last=Edgers|first=Geoff|date=April 5, 2007|work=The Boston Globe|access-date=November 7, 2010}}</ref> and in 2003 a solo exhibition was held at the Daimaru Museum, in [[Kyoto]], Japan]].{{cn|date=September 2022}}

Ritts was openly gay. He was in a relationship with entertainment lawyer Erik Hyman from 1996 until his death in 2002.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.poz.com/article/Putting-On-The-Ritts-542-3918|title=Putting on the Ritts|date=April 2003}}</ref> His parents were accepting and supportive of his sexuality.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://worldofwonder.net/bornthisday-photographer-herb-ritts-3/|title=#BornThisDay: Photographer, Herb Ritts|last=Rutledge|first=Stephen|date=August 13, 2017}}</ref> Ritts was [[HIV-positive]]. He was first diagnosed in 1989, and used alternative herbal treatments to fight his condition. He never publicly disclosed his diagnosis.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.out.com/entertainment/books/2010/09/23/herb-ritts-puttin-ritts|title=Herb Ritts: Puttin' on the Ritts|date=September 10, 2010}}</ref>

On December 26, 2002, Ritts died in Los Angeles of complications from [[pneumonia]] at the age of 50.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/27/us/herb-ritts-photographer-of-celebrities-is-dead-at-50.html?pagewanted=1|title=Herb Ritts, Photographer of Celebrities, Is Dead at 50|last=Bellafante|first=Ginia|date=December 27, 2002|work=The New York Times|access-date=May 25, 2010}}</ref> 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."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/ARTICLE.php?AID=1990|title=Ritts Coverage: Don't Hide the AIDS Truths|last=Signorile|first=Michelangelo|date=January 22, 2001|publisher=windycitymediagroup.com|access-date=September 13, 2010}}</ref>

| "[[Cherish (Madonna song)|Cherish]]"

|"[[In Thethe Closet]]"

{{PortalbarPortal bar|Biography|Fashion|California|LGBTLGBTQ}}

[[Category:AlbumAmerican album-cover and concert-poster artists]]

[[Category:20th-century American people of Jewish descentJews]]

[[Category:FashionAmerican fashion photographers]]

[[Category:LGBTGay Jews]]

[[Category:American LGBTLGBTQ photographers]]

[[Category:20th-century American LGBTLGBTQ people]]