Herb Ritts (1952-2002) was a remarkable photographer who more than one critic described as having the camera as an attachment to his body. Like Richard Avedon, George Platt Lynes, Horst P. Horst, and others, he made most of his money doing fashion and celebrity work. For our purposes, however, we will mainly be interested in his male nude and semi-nude photos. Despite having survived HIV well into the time of successful drug treatments, Mr. Ritts sadly died from an ordinary strain of pneumonia that most 50 year olds would have shaken off. His publicist said, "He died of AIDS."
A truly amazing photographer!
ReplyDeleteLove his work!
Sad to have lost him that way when it could have been avoided.
Like so many, gone too soon.
DeleteIt’s sad that he died of pneumonia, like so many of our friends did before the cocktail. Even then, the early versions of the cocktail didn’t work for everyone. I don’t know what his HIV status was, but if he was POS he would have been on the cocktail. Which would mean he died of an unusual form of pneumonia that antibiotics and antivirals couldn’t treat. Pneumocystis pneumonia is hard to treat and is what often killed AIDS patients.
ReplyDeleteHe was HIV positive and on retrovirals. His agent specfically said that it was not pneumocystis pneumonia, but some other type, that took his life.
DeleteMy favorite photographer. His work is absolutely timeless, he had an eye for capturing a moment and the intuition for creating one. A true master who is missed.
ReplyDeleteTrue, and it wasn't just his male nudes that were impressive. His entire body of work is a treasure.
DeleteI couldn't agree more. I think I have every book and retrospect that has come out.
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