Fashion Influential #65: Herb Ritts
Herb Ritts' "Stephanie, Cindy, Christy, Tatjana, Naomi, Hollywood, 1989" sold for $190,000 at auction last year. Via State of the Art
HERB RITTS
Born:
August 13, 1952, Los Angeles, CA
Died:
December 26, 2002, Los Angeles, CA
Fan of:
Madonna, Christopher Reeve, Elizabeth Taylor, Naomi Campbell
Famous shots:
"Stephanie, Cindy, Christy, Tatjana, Naomi, Hollywood, 1989"
"K.D. Lang & Cindy Crawford, Los Angeles, 1993"
"Fred with Tires"
Beginnings.
Herb Ritts was working as a salesman for his parents' furniture company (their rattan furniture was featured in an Elvis film!) when he went on a road trip in the desert with Richard Gere, who was dating a friend of Ritts'. They ended up with a flat tire, and Ritts decided to take a few shots of Gere, who was then virtually unknown. Gere shot to fame that year, and Ritts' austere photographs landed in American Vogue, Esquire, and Mademoiselle.
Career Highs.
After the Richard Gere photos, Ritts quit his job as a furniture salesman and began working on editorial shoots for Mademoiselle, Armani , and Gianfranco Ferre. In the 1980s, he began working on collections for himself - all of which maintained a clean, crisp, bold look that became his signature. He became a popular music director, helming videos for Janet Jackson, Britney Spears, and his muse, Madonna.
The brilliant lie of Los Angeles always seemed more true through the lens of Herb Ritts, where people were always falling in love...
- Hank Stuever, The Washington Post, 2002
A portrait of Madonna for Vanity Fair.Career Lows.
Herb Ritts became one of the most beloved photographers in the world in a very short time; his career was cut short in 2002, when he died of AIDS at the age of 50. At the time, the media cited his cause of death as pneumonia - technically true, but still untruthful. In April 2003, POZ magazine published a fascinating article about his final months - telling the story, friends say, Ritts would have wanted the public to hear.
Legacy.
Herb Ritts embraced simplicity of composition, and left a legacy of austere, direct, and above all, happy photography that could be felt and understood in an instant. He's been credited with the invention of the modern Gap ad, a casual, straightforward presentation the khaki giant continues to use to this day.
Ritts last shot Ben Affleck for Vanity Fair.Interesting Fact.
Ritts directed one of the sexiest videos known to VH1: Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game," in which the crooner rolls around with Helena Christensen on a remote beach. He attempted to recreate the vibe for Britney Spears' 2001 video for "Don't Let Me Be the Last to Know," a truly horrible song. The single flopped, but the video was so popular it had to be retired from TRL. - Alicia
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