Herb Ritts

Infobox Celebrity
name = Herb Ritts

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image_size = 200px
birth_name = Herbert Ritts
birth_date = birth date|1952|08|13
birth_place = Los Angeles, California
death_date = death date and age|2002|12|26|1952|08|13|mf=y
death_place = Los Angeles
nationality = Flagicon|USA American
occupation = Photographer
known_for = Black-and-white photography
awards = GLAAD Media Awards
Pioneer Award 2008

Herbert Ritts (August 13, 1952 in Los Angeles, California – December 26, 2002 in Los Angeles) was an American fashion photographer who concentrated on black-and-white photography and portraits in the style of classical Greek sculpture. Consequently some of his more famous pieces are of male and female nudes in what can be called glamour photography.

Biography

Celebrity/Fashion Photographer. Born in to a Jewish family in Los Angeles, California, Ritts began his career working in the family furniture business. After awhile he moved to the East Coast and attended Bard College in New York, where he majored in economics and art history. Later he became interested in photography, when by chance he met a young man in a gas station and decided to photograph him. The young man would later become actor, Richard Gere. The picture gained Ritts some coverage and he began to be more serious about photography. He later photographed notables such as, Christopher Reeve, Dalai Lama, Elizabeth Taylor, Ronald Reagan, Steven Hawking, Edward Norton, Madonna, Dizzy Gillespie, Annette Benning, Cindy Crawford, and many others. He worked for the magazines, "Interview", "GQ", "Harper's Bazaar", "Rolling Stone", "Vogue", "Vanity Fair" and "Elle". He published many books on photography for leading fashion designers including, Giorgio Armani, Revlon, Ralph Lauren, Chanel, Gianni Versace and Calvin Klein. From 1996 to 1997 some of his work was displayed at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts, attracting more then 253,000 people to the exibit. In 1991 he won two MTV Video Awards for his work on music videos by Janet Jackson and Chris Isaak. Ritts also worked on other projects including directing and acting, "Mariah #1's" (1999), ' (1996), ' (1998) and "Murder in the First" (1995). Ritts was considered to be a leading celebrity photographer of the 1980s and 1990s. He died in 2002 as a result of AIDS.

Commercial

Herb Ritts Commercial: chronology

*1988: Parco "Quarttro" with Tatjana Patitz
*1990: Rochas "Femme" "Globe"
*1990: Lancôme "Rouge Absolut" with Isabella Rossellini
*1991: Calvin Klein Escape "Water Ski" "Horse" "Pool" "Sailboat" with Shana Zadrick
*1991: NEC with Ryuichi Sakamoto
*1992: Levi's Loose Fit Jeans "Wind" "Earth" "Water" "Movement" "Light" "Shorts" "Wave" "Parachute" "Fire" "Premiere" "Sunny Beach" "Collage" "Co-op Land" "Co-op All Star"
*1992: Levi's Loose Fit Jeans "Flag" "Stone Wheel" "Red Stripes" "Poles" "Pyramids" "Climbers" "Fort Window" "Big Ball" "Nadege’s Shorts" "Winter Shorts" "Loose Fit Ninety"
*1992: Levi's Dockers "Grey" "Green" "Tan" "Brown" "Blue" "Black" "Green Shorts" "Tan Shorts" "Blue Shorts"
*1992: Guess Perfume "Café - Women" "Cafe - Men’s" with Claudia Schiffer
*1992: Calvin Klein "Marky Mark" with Mark Wahlberg and Kate Moss
*1992: Revlon "Charlie" with Cindy Crawford and Little Richard
*1993: Brut "Aquatonic A" with Helena Christensen
*1993: Guy Laroche "Horizon" with Beri Smither
*1993: Paul Mitchell "Seasons" "Earth" with Eloise DeJoria
*1993: Vittel Water "Living Sculpture" with Beri Smither
*1993: Acura "NSX - Handmade" "Comfort" "Quality" "Premium"
*1994: Revlon Flex "Lighten Up" with Claudia Schiffer
*1994: Revlon "Kiss Proof" with Cindy Crawford
*1994: Revlon "Defy It" with Melanie Griffith
*1994: Donna Karan "DKNY Men" with Peter Fortier
*1994: Chanel "Allure" with Karen, Leticia, Linda, Irene, Jamie, Basia, Nadege, Emma
*1994: Paul Mitchell "Desert" with Eloise DeJoria
*1994: Cartier "Pasha" with Lara Harris, Tatjana Patitz.
*1995: Häagen-Dazs "Shall We" with Tatjana Patitz
*1995: Elizabeth Arden "Black Pearls" with Elizabeth Taylor
*1995: CoverGirl "True Advance" with Helena Christensen
*1996: Revlon "Won’t Fade Away" with Cindy Crawford
*1996: Victoria's Secret with Helena Christensen, Dennis Rodman, Vendela, Katey Segal, Salt-n-Pepa, Naomi Campbell
*1997: Victoria's Secret with Helena Christensen
*1997: Revlon Ultima "That’s The Ultimate" with Kim Delaney
*1997: Victoria's Secret "Angels" with Tyra Banks, Stephanie Seymour, Karen Mulder, Helena Christensen, Daniela Pestova, Tom Jones
*1998: Revlon "Liquid Sexy" with Shania Twain
*1998: Chanel "Allure" Kiara, Chandra North, Mackie, Beri Smither, Tara Westwood, Meilan, Elisabet Davidsdottir, Daniela Pestova, Shirley Mallman
*1998: Elizabeth Arden "White Pearls" with Burt Reynolds
*1998: Revlon Ultima II "Beauty is as Beauty Does" "Wisdom" with Cybill Shepherd
*1998: Revlon "Wake-Up" with Halle Berry
*1999: Maybelline "Triple Volume" with Christy Turlington
*1999: Eau De Rochas "Man and Woman" Manon von Gerkan
*1999: Vidal Sassoon "Vidal" "Follower vs. Leader" "Standard Vs. State of the Arts" "Art vs. Science" with Vidal Sassoon
*1999: Revlon "Looks That Last" with Shania Twain, Cindy Crawford
*1999: Maybelline "Mascara Love" with Sarah Michelle Gellar
*2000: Elizabeth Arden "White Diamonds" with Elizabeth Taylor
*2001: Estée Lauder "Advance Night Repair" with Carolyn Murphy
*2001: Elizabeth Taylor "United for America" Public Service Announcement
*2001: Revlon "Choices" with Halle Berry
*2001: Maybelline "Wet Shine Nails" with Sarah Michelle Gellar
*2002: Victoria's Secret "New Angels" with Gisele Bundchen, Adriana Lima, Alessandra Ambrosio
*2002: Victoria's Secret "Sexy Support" with Tyra Banks
*2002: Estée Lauder "Beautiful" "Pleasures" "Intense" with Carolyn Murphy
*2002: Elizabeth Arden/House Of Taylor "Cinema" with Elizabeth Taylor

Music Videos

Herb Ritts Music Videos: chronology

*1989: Madonna - "Cherish"
*1990: Janet Jackson - "Love Will Never Do (Without You)" with Antonio Sabato Jr. and Djimon Hounsou
*1991: Chris Isaak - "Wicked Game" (version 2) with Helena Christensen
*1992: Michael Jackson - "In The Closet" with Naomi Campbell
*1994: Jon Bon Jovi - "Please Come Home For Christmas" with Cindy Crawford
*1996: Toni Braxton - "Let It Flow"
*1998: Mariah Carey - "My All"
*1999: Chris Isaak - "Baby Did A Bad, Bad Thing" with Laetitia Casta
*2000: Tracy Chapman - "Telling Stories"
*2001: Britney Spears - "Don't Let Me Be the Last to Know"
*2001: Jennifer Lopez - "Ain't It Funny"
*2001: 'N Sync - "Gone"
*2002: Shakira - "Underneath Your Clothes"

Actor filmatography

Herb Ritts Actor fimatography: chronology

*1993: Intimate Portrait, episode: "Cindy Crawford", as himself
*1995: Murder In The First, as Mike Kelly
*1997: Behind The Music, episode 6: "Imagemakers", as himself
*2001: Diary, episode 8: "Diary Of Britney Spears", as himself
*2001: The Ellen Show, episode 4: "Vanity Hair", as the photographer
*2002: Making The Video, episode 86: "Underneath Your Clothes", as himself

Books

Herb Ritts books: chronology

* "Pictures", Twin Palms Publishers, 1988
* "Men/Women", Twin Palms Publishers, 1989
* "Duo", Twin Palms Publishers, 1991
* "Notorious", Little, Brown and Company/Bulfinch Press, 1992
* "Africa", Little, Brown and Company/Bulfinch Press, 1994
* "Work", Little, Brown and Company/Bulfinch Press, 1996
* "Herb Ritts", Fondation Cartier Pour L'art Contemporain, 1999

External links

* [http://www.herbritts.com Official Website]
*imdb name|id=0728851|name=Herb Ritts
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7036111 Herb Ritts' biographic sketch] at Find A Grave
* [http://www.staleywise.com/collection/ritts/ritts.html Staley Wise Gallery: Herb Ritts collection]