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Dies of Pneumonia at Age 50
Ritts' work appeared over nearly 30 years in fashion spreads, music videos, album covers, advertisements. The celebrities in his photographs, included Madonna, Ben Affleck, Elizabeth Taylor, Cindy Crawford, Richard Gere, Kofi Annan, the Dalai Lama, Jack Nicholson, Dizzy Gillespie and John Voight. He was well-known for his ability to place his subjects in the best possible light, eliciting such comments as "classic" "sculpture," "iconic," and "exquisite." The music videos he directed in 1991 for Chris Isaak and Janet Jackson, won top honors at the MTV Video Music Awards.
He collected his wide-ranging work in six books, including studies of gender, gay couples, celebrity and African people and landscapes.
He often contributed his images to Vanity Fair and Rolling Stone. His photographs have appeared over a 15- year span in Vogue. His photographs of United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and of track star Marion Jones are scheduled for publication in Vogue's February issue. Ritts' earliest photos, taken in the late 1970s, captured his actor-friend Richard Gere at a gas station, as the two friends drove about in Los Angeles. These photographs launched his career. The two men remained friends and Gere commented: "His purpose was always to make you look good." Gere also noted that some photographers work too hard too attain a kind of elegance that Ritt achieved without effort. "Some photographers embalm their subjects, but he enlivened them," said Gere. Ritts' pictures could be witty. In this vein, a cover of Vanity Fair showing Cindy Crawford shaving the face of singer k.d. lang in drag remains memorable. At the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston Ritts is remembered as "an image maker for our time ... who translated our culture's dreams and desires into strong memorable pictures." Private memorial services have been planned. |
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Los Angeles, California-Herb Ritts, the famed openly-gay photographer of celebrities, died here last week in his native southern California at the UCLA Medical Center at the age of 50 from complications due to pneumonia. He is survived by his long-time partner, Erik Hyman; his mother, Shirley Ritts; a sister, Christy Thrasher; and a brother, Rory, all of Los Angeles.
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