Herb Ritts is an American photographer and director, known for his black and white photographs. It is noteworthy that he was inspired by ancient Greek culture. Hence, in his works, attention is paid to the shape of a human body, its plastic. Herb's career as a photographer began with an accident: in 1978, at a gas station he met a handsome young man, whom he offered to photograph. The young man was then unknown Richard Gere. The meeting was successful for both — after it, Ritts began to earn income from his hobby, and Gere`s pictures appeared in advertising Agency pictures influenced his film career. A year later, once on the set of the film "Champion", Ritts took some pictures of Jon Voight, the main character. One of the photos was placed on the film poster, and another was bought by Newsweek.

In 1980s, Herb Ritts began to collaborate actively with musicians, not only shooting the album covers for them, but also participating in the production of videoclips. In 1991, his directorial work was awarded for the MTV Video Music Awards for Chris Isaak.

At the moment, Ritts was exhibited once in Russia in 2015, in MAMM. Over 20 years of his career, Herb Ritts took portraits of many celebrities, was a favorite photographer of magazines (Interview, Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Elle, GQ, Vanity Fair) and international fashion brands and designers (Giorgio Armani, Chanel, Revlon and Calvin Klein). He revolutionized fashion photography, modernized nude style and stayed in the history of world art. Always sure that it is necessary to shoot as if you do photos only for yourself, Ritts said that the real art is more durable, than paper on which photos are printed.

Despite the fame gained thanks to these pictures, there was a "color" period in his works.

In all the works by him, there is a superior form, purity of frame and absence of extravagances. This makes the pictures clear, ringing, leads the eye to the frame, keeps the viewer's attention. And here is what is said about the work by Herb by those who directly worked with him:

"I think he sees beauty in everything," Edward Norton, a Hollywood actor, once said.

"The mythical beauty in his photographs has not aged. It's like a return to the old school of Hollywood charm and glory, where reality gets lost with fantasy", Vogue about the last exhibition.