Herb Ritts

Photography Appreciation

At a very young age, I knew about Herb Ritts. He was the photographer who captured iconic celebrities such as Madonna, Cindy Crawford, Elton John, and Dizzy Gillespie. He made black and white photography sensual.

Born on August 13, 1952, Ritts became interested in photography after gaining attention for photos he had taken of his friend, Richard Gere, in 1977. After that, he became the celebrities' photographer.

Honestly, it wasn't the photography that captured my interested at first; it was his music videos he directed. In 1989, he directed Madonna's "Cherish" and soon after Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game." His music videos hit me at the perfect time of puberty.

Unfortunately, Ritts passed away after complications from pneumonia on December 26, 2002.

The images he captured defines a generation that was enamored by the glamorous life of Hollywood and rock stars in the late 20th Century.

You can see more of his wonderful work HERE.

Richard Gere, 1977 via wwwsomekindofcolor

Dizzy Gillespie via modeledart

Stephanie Cindy, Christy, Tatjana, Naomi, Hollywood, 1989 via chloemassey

Christy Turlington via bettysandboys

Kate Moss via thewahlpost

Sources: http://www.herbritts.com/; http://www.artnet.com/awc/Herb-Ritts.html; http://wwwsomekindofcolor.blogspot.com/2012/11/herb-ritts.html; http://modeledart.wordpress.com/2010/12/02/herb-ritts/; http://chloemassey.blogspot.com/2011/12/herb-ritts.html; http://loveisspeed.blogspot.com/2012/03/herb-ritts-photographylife-with-icons.html; http://blogs.nordstrom.com/men/nineties-icons-herb-ritts-and-calvin-klein/; http://blog.ronaldjames.com/herb-ritts/; http://bettysandboys.blogspot.com/2012/01/herb-ritts-photography.html; http://www.thewahlpost.com/2012/11/02/kate-moss-by-herb-rits/; Wikipedia