Herb Ritts preferred using a Mamiya or Nikon camera for his shoots. His work consisted of Fashion photography and portraits. Ritts body of work is mainly black and white. I went to see the Rock Portraits exhibit at the Chrysler museum and was blown away by his collection and clients. The picture above of Prince was one of the only photographs that was in color.
Ritts felt that the selection and editing of images was as important as the process of shooting. Ritts studied Economics in college and had very little formal training in Photography. His career began when his good friend and apiring actor Richard Gere needed photos to send out to agents. The photos Ritts took gained him a lot of attention in his hometown of L.A. He developed relationshipships with all his subjects and was able to use that dynamic to pull such emotions in the Rock stars he shot. Ritts felt building trust was the most important thing at a shoot. He has shot 45 Rolling Stones covers and he has worked with a wide range of music Icons (Bjork, Naomi Campell, Courtney Love, Kurt Cobain, Janet Jackson, Madonna, Tina Turner, etc.)
I absolutely love his work. The amount of Icons that he has captured is mind blowing. I remember that Michael Jackson Time cover and how I felt when I saw it. He is able to capture and help convey such raw emotion. None of the photos appear staged and everyone seems comfortable as if the are candids. The 3 pictures I choose are all of Icons that passed away too soon that I was a huge fan of. His entire body of work is even more impressive. The way he is able to capture and showcase the human body is beautiful.
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