Herbert Ritts Jr. was an American fashion photographer known for his black-and-white portraits that resembled classical Greek sculptures. He began his career in furniture but became interested in photography after taking pictures of his friend Richard Gere. Ritts' photographs of Brooke Shields and album covers for artists like Olivia Newton-John and Madonna gained him popularity. During the 1980s and 1990s, he photographed many celebrities and fashion models, including Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, and Stephanie Seymour. Ritts worked for many magazines and published photography books for fashion designers, and a retrospective of his work in Boston attracted over 250,000 visitors.

1. Herb Ritts
1952-2002
Herbert Ritts Jr was an American fashion
photographer who concentrated on black-and-white
photography and portraits, often in the style of
classical Greek sculpture. Ritts began his career
working in the family furniture business.
While living in Los Angeles, he became interested in photography when he and friend
Richard Gere, an aspiring actor, decided to shoot some photographs in front of an old
jacked up Buick. The picture gained Ritts some popularity and he began to be more
serious about photography. He photographed Brooke Shields for the cover of an Elle
magazine. He photographed artists like Olivia Newton-John and Madonna for their album
covers.

2. History ofwork
• During the 1980s and 1990s, Ritts photographed celebrities. He also took many fashion and nude
photographs of fashion models Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford and Stephanie Seymour.
• Ritts' work with them was successful in the 1990s era of the supermodel and was named by one of his most
celebrated images, "Stephanie, Cindy, Christy, Tatjana, Naomi, Hollywood, 1989" taken for Rolling Stone
Magazine.
• He also worked for Glamour, GQ, Rolling Stone, Vogue, Allure, Vanity Fair and Elle.
• He published many books on photography for fashion designers including-
Giorgio Armani, Revlon, Ralph Lauren, Chanel, Calvin Klein, Maybelline, Victoria's Secret, Gap, Lancôme, and
Valentino.
• From 1996 to 1997 his work was displayed at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, attracting more
than 250,000 people to the exhibit

3. Photographies

4. Pictures that inspire me
This picture inspires me
because it looks unique.
The background is a
deserted place. The
wind flowing the models
dress is something
different. The outfit of
the model is simple but
it stands out because of
the direction of the
wind. The way the
model is posing also
makes her look feminine
as her body is pushed
back and her high heels
are shown and it almost
look like she’s dancing.
This picture looks very
feminine as the model
is wearing a flowy
princess-like dress.
She shows one of her
legs which hint out
her elegance. This
picture is also unique
as we don’t usually
see women running
around the sea in a
dress. This inspires me
to do something
different to my
photography too.