Herbert Ritts Jr. (August 13, 1952 – December 26, 2002) was an American fashion photographer and music video director known for his photographs of celebrities, models, and other cultural figures throughout the 1980s and 1990s. His work concentrated on black and white photography and portraits, often in the style of classical Greek sculpture, which emphasized the human shape.
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Early life and education
Ritts was born on August 13, 1952, in Brentwood, Los Angeles. His father, Herb Ritts Sr. (née Rittigstein), was a furniture designer and his mother, Shirley Ritts (née Roos), was an interior designer. Together, their furniture business helped to popularize rattan furniture in the 1950s and 1960s. Raised in an affluent Jewish family, he and his three younger siblings lived next door to actor Steve McQueen, whom he considered to be "like a second father".
At his bar mitzvah, his father gave him a Kodak Brownie camera. He attended Palisades High School and moved to upstate New York in 1972 to study at Bard College, where he received a degree in economics with a minor in art history. Upon graduation in 1975, he moved back to California to work as a sales representative in the family business."I’m glad I didn’t go to school for photography. Other photographers I know, Helmut Newton and Bruce Weber didn’t either. Even Steven Meisel didn’t, really—he went to fashion school. For me, the most important thing I learned was just honing my eye. [...] I was tutoring myself, I suppose. Many people who excel are self-taught".Ritts bought his first camera in 1976, a 35mm Miranda DX-3.