The Life & Work of the Late Herb Ritts

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed)
Mar 4th 2011 at 3:01PM

Madonna, Julia Roberts, Michele Pfeiffer, Kim Basinger, Richard Gere, Cindy Crawford – all of them owe their fame in some measure to the late Herb Ritts, the renowned photographer whose portraits for the likes of Vanity Fair, Vogue and various fashion houses in the '80s and '90s helped turn many of his subjects into icons. A new book by Charles Churchward, Herb Ritts: The Golden Hour, is a lavish scrapbook / oral history looking at both Ritts' life, legacy and work. Along with some of the well known celebrity and supermodel poses the book's 200 images include intimate portraits, images of extravagant Hollywood parties, travels to exotic locales, and other unforgettable moments from an extraordinary career, many from Ritts' personal archive and previously unpublished. Richard Gere provides an introduction and there are scores of interviews from Ritts' friends including Annie Leibovitz, Elton John, kd lang, Helena Christensen, L'Wren Scott and more.

Tags: books, celebrity, Cindy Crawford, coffee table books, Elton John, fashion, Helena Christensen, Herb Ritts, Hollywood, Julia Roberts, Madonna, photographer, photography, Richard Gere, supermodels, Vanity Fair