Herb Ritts, Sean, Hollywood, 1985

Herb Ritts (1952–2002) was an American photographer whose sculptural black-and-white images defined the look of fashion, celebrity and the male nude in the 1980s and 1990s. Born in Los Angeles, he began photographing friends in the late 1970s and went on to shoot for Vogue, Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone and Interview, as well as directing music videos for Madonna, Michael Jackson and Chris Isaak.

Shaped by Southern California light and classical sculpture, his figure studies celebrate the body with clarity and grace. His work is held by major museums, including the J. Paul Getty Museum, and was the subject of retrospectives at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Getty.