When you start out, you're not really aware. I didn't have a sense of photographic history.

According to Ritts' publicist "Herb was HIV-positive but this particular pneumonia was not PCP (pneumocystis pneumonia) a common opportunistic infection of AIDS. He publiHerb Rittsd many books on photography for leading fashion designers including Giorgio Armani Revlon Ralph Lauren Chanel Gianni Versace Calvin Klein Elizabeth Arden Donna Karan Cartier Guess Maybelline TAG Heuer Lacoste Gianfranco Ferré Levi's Victoria's Secret Gap Acura CoverGirl Lancôme and Valentino. Ritts also worked on other projects including directing and acting on Mariah Carey's video collection #1's (1999) Jennifer Lopez's sepia video "Ain't It Funny" Janet Jackson's Design of a Decade 1986/1996 (1996) Intimate Portrait: Cindy Crawford (1998) Murder in the First (1995) Britney Spears' "Don't Let Me Be The Last To Know (2001) and Shakira's Underneath Your Clothes.

He took many photos of famous actors models and more. Herbert "Herb" Ritts (August 13 1952 – December 26 2002) was an American fashion photographer who concentrated on black-and-white photography and portraits often in the style of classical Greek sculpture.