Herb Ritts

 

Herbert "Herb" Ritts (August 13, 1952 – December 26, 2002) was an American fashion and portrait photographer who concentrated on black-and-white photography, often in the style of classical Greek sculpture.

Growing up in California, Ritts was influenced by the scenery and the weather in the state, and this is evident in his photography.  He developed a fondness and an affinity for the wide open spaces the sunlight and the warmth.  An example of this can be seen in his famous photo of Richard Gere.  

He has worked for the likes of fashion magazines such as Harper's Bazaar, Vogue and Elle, as well as doing album covers, music videos and many portraits of famous stars including Richard Gere, Jack Nicholson, Madonna and Cindy Crawford.

In his photography, Ritts uses light and shade and the human form to create interesting images, often using lines and curves to guide the eye into the image.  In some of his images he has the background blurred so that he makes you look at the subject rather than the background.  This may relate to his affinity to wide open spaces. 

In this image, we can see the use of wide open spaces and light.  We can see the light at the top which suggests it is a wide open space, and the darkness of the shadows below the car.  After learning about this, I now like this image, whereas before it done nothing for me !

 

As this is an album cover image for Madonna’s True Blue album, I already liked this picture as I had seen it before.  When looking at this photograph I noticed that it is blurred in the background, so that it makes the subject come forward.  I think this is created by using a short depth of field.  This is related to aperture. 

Also, the way he has placed the lights, I presume he has put a light right above her as it looks like there is a light shining down on her face … you can see this because of the shadows under her chin and ear.  The way he has made Madonna stand may be influenced by his interest in Greek sculpture, and by throwing her head back, had made her chin and neck more noticeable, which I think makes the picture much more interesting.  In this image, Ritt’s use of line and form has drawn my eye into the image.

  This photo was taken outside, reflecting his interest in wide open space. I like the strong contrast of the image, making the subject stand out against the negative space.  In particular I like the use of form to create the circle around the subject.