Herb Ritts

Around one hundred photographs evoke the rigorous, disconcerting work of one of the most remarkable fashion and celebrity photographers of the 80’s and 90’s. His subjects often take on bizarre poses, bringing them closer to us, and an impression of flattering intimacy is created with these important figures. 

Herb Ritts’ images are disturbing because some repressed sentiment almost seems to surge out of the dark recesses of each of his subjects. Taboos and ambiguous sexual identities are presented with disconcerting simplicity and a mischievous, lighthearted humor, leaving us nonplussed, to the point where we forget their presence. Herb Ritts is careful to cover his tracks with disguises and recognizable styles of photography, also using Hollywood-type images that are familiar to us all.