Herb Ritts

Herb Ritts – Breakthrough came with a photograph of Richard Gere

Herb Ritts was born in Los Angeles on 13 August 1952. He initially studied art history and economics in New York before working in the family-run furniture store. He only pursued photography at that time as a hobby, teaching himself the necessary skills. His great breakthrough came with a picture of a friend, the then completely unknown actor Richard Gere, who he photographed changing a tyre. When Gere became famous shortly after with the film American Gigolo, magazines such as Vogue and Elle became interested in the picture and Herb Ritts earned not only good money, but also further photography contracts. The newly minted star of photographer wisely concealed the fact that photography had previously only been a hobby. His black and white portraits, fashion and nude photographs quickly graced the covers of major American magazines, including Harper’s Bazaar, Vanity Fair and Rolling Stone. 

Favourite of the famous, powerful, and beautiful

From the start, Herb Ritts strove to dissolve strong shapes and lines in photography and to depict his models directly. A particularly intense and long-term collaboration grew with the pop singer Madonna, for whom Ritts designed the cover of her album True Blue, and also shot his first music video. This was such a great success that other artists sought to work with him including Michael Jackson, Tina Turner, Britney Spears, Chris Isaak, Mariah Carey and Janet Jackson. Ritts and his particular sense for pictorial aesthetics awoke the interest of large brand manufacturers and he worked for diverse marketing campaigns such as Calvin klein, Gianni Versace, Chanel, Levi’s and Donna Karen, and his photos could be seen in the famous Pirelli calendars. 

Trust as the foundation for striking shots

Herb Ritts enthusiastically photographed nudes of muscular men and beautiful women, with stars such as Laetitia Casta and Cindy Crawford dropping their clothes in front of the camera for the first time. In the process, he sometimes showed motifs that were equally challenging for the viewer and the sitter, such as the paralysed Superman actor Christopher Reeve in his wheelchair or the film diva Liz Taylor immediately after an operation with shaved head and scar. These rare and intimate pictures are testimony to the great trust Ritts was able to inspire in his models. He was able to make even the biggest stars do something that under normal circumstances they would categorically refuse, said a colleague about her boss later. The fact that he was later sometimes accused of only emphasising the beautiful with his work instead of critically questioning the superficial glamour of Hollywood remains a footnote in view of Herb Ritts’ comprehensive photographic oeuvre. 

Herb Ritts died unexpectedly on 26 December 2002 at the age of fifty following a chronic lung infection.