Herb Ritts

Herbert "Herb" Ritts (August 13, 1952 – December 26, 2002) was an American photographer who concentrated mainly on black and white fashion photography and portraits.

Born in Los Angeles, to a jewish family, Ritts began his career working in the family furniture business. He moved to attend Bard College in New York, where he majored in economics and art history. Later, while living in Los Angeles, he became interested in photography when he and friend Richard gere (then just an aspiring actor) decided to shoot some photographs. The picture gained Ritts some coverage and he began to be more serious about photography.

Herb Ritts had his major photographic career in the late seventies, eighties and nineties.

he gained his reputation in art and commercial photography then going more into fashion in the late eighties and nighties doing work for the likes of vogue, vanity fair, Calvin Klein, Chanel, Ralph Lauren etc.. 

Herb was known for his clean lines and strong forms giving the images a simplicity that allowed the images to be read and felt instantaneously.
He also produced work that often challenged conventional notions of gender or race.

I feel he has a certain relation to my work firstly because of the black and white style and also because of the clean cut image that is easy to read and see what it is. Also the subject matter obviously of women. 

I personally am not gay but I feel that Herb being a gay photographer taking pictures of naked women or women in underwear is an important part of the argument. He was obviously not attracted to women in a sexual way but took these images as art and an appreciation of a woman form.