Partner Erik Hyman
Queer Places:
2674 Cordelia Rd, Los Angeles, CA 90049
7923 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90046
8724 St Ives Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90069
Herbert
"Herb" Ritts Jr. (August 13, 1952 – December 26, 2002) was an American fashion
photographer and director prolific 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.[1]
Born in Los Angeles, to a Jewish family,[2] 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, graduating in 1975.[1]
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.[1] 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 prominently photographed celebrities in various locales throughout California.[3] Some of his subjects during this time included Elizabeth Taylor,[4] Vincent Price,[5] Madonna,[6] Denzel Washington,[7] Johnny Depp,[8] Ronald Reagan,[9] David Bowie,[10] Courtney Love,[11] Liv Tyler,[12] Matthew McConaughey,[13] and Britney Spears.[14]
He also took many fashion and nude photographs of fashion 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 Magazine.
He also worked for Interview, Esquire, Mademoiselle, Glamour, GQ, Newsweek, Harper's Bazaar, Rolling Stone,[3] TimeVogue, Allure, Vanity Fair, Details, and Elle.
He published many books on photography for fashion designers including, Giorgio Armani, 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,[15] and in 2003 a solo exhibition was held at the Daimaru Museum, in Kyoto, Japan.
TThe 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. 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." “It was like an
ambush. He got sick so quickly with this crazy harsh pneumonia. The doctors
said they had no idea what this pneumonia was,” said Erik Hyman, Ritts’ lover of six and a
half years. “After Tuesday, he couldn’t speak anymore. He was definitely
trying to hang in there. He was a fighter.” Ritts’ life ended at 8:55 a.m. on
Thursday, December 26. He was 50.
LLawyer Erik Hyman was Herb Ritts's
partner until the day of Ritts's death in December 2002. On October 25, 2008,
Erik married Max Mutchnick,
television producer. The couple are fathers to twin girls, Evan and Rose, via
a surrogate.
My published books:
