I was surprised to see it took this long for it to be mentioned. I read the NY Times obit online at work. I am only slightly familiar with his work. It was interesting to read how he started in photography.
César Panama City, Florida -- -----Original Message----- -- From: Bill Sawyer [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] -- Sent: Friday, December 27, 2002 7:45 PM -- -- I found this on another list. Ritts was one of my favorite -- portraitists, though I could never find as much of his work -- as I would have liked. -- -- Dec 27, 1:26 AM EST -- -- Celebrity Photographer Herb Ritts Dies -- -- By ERICA WERNER -- Associated Press Writer -- -- -- -- -- -- LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Photographer Herb Ritts, -- whose access to celebrities, even at their most fragile -- moments, gave him an edge in a competitive field, died -- Thursday of complications of pneumonia, his publicist said. -- He was 50. -- -- Ritts - whose stylish, mostly black-and-white -- portraits helped define the image-conscious 1980s and '90s - -- died at the University of California, Los Angeles, Medical -- Center, publicist Stephen Huvane said. -- -- Ritts gained entree to celebrities' lives even -- at unglamorous moments. He photographed Christopher Reeve, -- wired up and immobile in a high-tech wheelchair. In another -- photograph, Elizabeth Taylor sported a crew cut and the scar -- resulting from her brain surgery. -- -- "He could get people to do things that they were -- reluctant to do, because in the end it would make a great -- photograph," said David Fahey, Ritts' gallery -- representative. -- -- Edward Norton, one of Ritts' subjects, once told -- the Los Angeles Times: "I feel like Herb really does see -- everything as beautiful. ... It's almost as if he can't help -- but see it in its idealized form." -- -- Ritts was born in Los Angeles in 1952, and the -- family furniture business provided a comfortable life for -- him and three siblings. He moved to the East Coast to attend -- New York's Bard College, studying economics and art history. -- -- After graduation he returned to California and -- took a job as a salesman in the family business. -- -- Taking pictures started as a hobby for Ritts, -- and chance and connections propelled him into the world of -- celebrity photography in the '70s. He got to know Richard -- Gere through someone who was dating the actor at the time. -- -- A drive in the desert led to a flat tire and an -- impromptu photo session in a service station. The result was -- a photo of a steamy Gere in a white vest, his arms over his -- head and a cigarette dangling from his mouth. -- -- "I can't remember whether I told Richard to put -- his arms over his head or whether I just clicked when he -- stretched. And he really smoked a lot. He was like that, a -- handsome kid and very sexy," Ritts said in an interview for -- a catalog that accompanied a show at Paris' Fondation -- Cartier in 2000. -- -- At the time, Gere was an unknown. A year later -- he was a star, and Ritts' photos were being used as -- publicity shots. -- -- Ritts shot celebrities from Madonna to Michelle -- Pfeiffer to Dizzy Gillespie for top fashion and culture -- magazines - Interview, Harper's Bazaar, Vogue, Elle. When -- Taylor married construction worker Larry Fortensky in 1991, -- Ritts had exclusive rights to photograph her eighth trip -- down the aisle. -- -- He showed Madonna grabbing her crotch, Cindy -- Crawford dressed as a man, Annette Bening pregnant and -- lounging on a couch. -- -- Ritts believed his pictures would endure, even -- as his subjects faded from public awareness. -- -- "Fifty or 60 years from now, if someone sees a -- portrait of Madonna, they really won't care that it was -- Madonna or they won't know" who she was, he told the Los -- Angeles Times. "But it'll hold up as a portrait of an -- interesting woman you want to know. You feel her. There's -- something coming from it." -- -- His subjects ranged far beyond pop culture - -- Ronald Reagan, Stephen Hawking and the Dalai Lama all went -- before his lens. -- -- Ritts published at least eight books of -- photographs and did work for top fashion designers including -- Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Chanel, Revlon and Giorgio -- Armani. He took pictures for album covers and directed music -- videos. -- -- In 1991 two of his videos won MTV Awards: best -- female video, with Janet Jackson, and best male video, with -- Chris Isaak. -- -- His work was displayed at studios and museums, -- including a major retrospective at the Museum of Fine Arts, -- Boston, in 1996-97. The show attracted more than 253,000 -- people, including some critics who dismissed Ritts' work as -- pop art. -- -- Ritts also helped raise charity funds, often for -- AIDS groups. -- -- He is survived by his mother, Shirley Ritts; a -- brother, Rory; a sister, Christy; and his partner, Erik -- Hyman. -- -- From the AP web site. --
